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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
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http://www.archive.org/details/outlinesofeducatOOherb 



OUTLINES OF EDUCATIONAL 
DOCTRINE 



•?&&&' 



OUTLINES OF EDUCATIONAL 
DOCTRINE 



BY 

J 



JOHN FREDERICK HERBART 



TRANSLATED BY 
ALEXIS F. LANGE, Ph.D. 

Associate Professor of English and Scandinavian Philology, and 

Dean of the Faculty of the College of Letters, 

University of California 



ANNOTATED BY 

CHARLES DE GARMO, Ph.D. 

Professor of the Science and Art of Education, 
Cornell University 






THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

LONDON : MACMILLAN & CO., Ltd. 
1 901 

All rights reservtd 



Library of Congress: 

Two Copies R€ceiv?d ! 
FEB 16 1901 

^* Copyright entry 

SECOND COPY 



Copyright, 1901, 
By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. 



NorfaooB 33tcB3 

J. S. CusMng & Co. — Berwick & Smith 

Norwood Mass. U.S.A. 






PREFACE 

The reasons for translating and annotating Herbart's 
"Outlines" are, first, to present to the English-speaking 
public Herbart's latest, and also his most complete, 
work on education ; and, second, to note to some ex- 
tent at least the advances made in educational thought 
since Herbart laid down his pen. 

Herbart's educational writings are distinguished by 
two marked characteristics : i, their helpfulness in 
actual teaching; and 2, their systematic completeness. 
The thoughtful reader can see the bearing of each 
part upon all the others ; the purposes of education 
are so completely correlated with the means, that, 
whether the topic under discussion be apperception 
or interest or methods of teaching or school govern- 
ment or moral training or the presentation of a par- 
ticular study, the reader is never at a loss to see the 
relation of this part to the whole. 

The eminent practicability of Herbart's thought de- 
pends upon his psychological point of view, which is 
always that of concrete experience. The moment one 
tries to apply rational psychology to actual teaching, 
one begins to rise into the clouds, to become vague 



VI PREFACE 

or, at least, general. The reason for this is that 
rational psychology deals with unchangeable presup- 
positions of mind. We may conform our work to these 
standards, but we cannot modify them, any more than 
we can a law of nature. But when we have to deal 
with an apperceiving content, we feel at home, for over 
this we have some control. We can build up moral 
maxims, we can establish permanent interests, we can 
reveal the unfolding of whole developments of thought 
and effort, we can fix the time order of studies and 
parts of studies ; in short, we can apply our pedagogical 
insight with some degree of success to actual school 
problems. Though empirical psychology has in the last 
fifty years had as rapid a development as any other de- 
partment of science, it has never departed essentially 
from the direction fixed by Herbart. New methods 
have indeed been applied, but the leading motive has 
remained empirical ; it has had small tendency to drift 
toward rational psychology. This fact makes Herbart's 
educational thought, so far as psychological bearing is 
concerned, seem as fresh and modern as when it was 
first recorded. 

In one important respect, however, Herbart's system 
needs modernizing. It is in relating education to con- 
ditions of society as it now exists. German society has 
never been that of English-speaking countries; much 
less does German society of the early part of the nine- 
teenth century correspond to Anglo-Saxon society at 



PREFACE Vll 

the beginning of the twentieth. Indeed, even had 
there been correspondence before, there would be di- 
vergence now. It is one of the main purposes of the 
annotation, therefore, to point out the social implica- 
tions of various parts of the " Outlines." 

The annotation has made no attempt to improve 
Herbart's prophetic vision concerning many important 
matters, or to elucidate self-evident propositions, or to 
supplement observations already complete, true, and 
apt. 

Especial attention is called to the exactness and 
illuminating character of Herbart's diagnosis of mental 
weaknesses and disorders in children, together with his 
suggestions as to proper treatment. Students of child- 
study, moreover, will find in this work not only encour- 
agement in their work, but also assistance in determining 
what is worth studying in the child. The reader is 
constantly reminded of the fact that, when written by 
a master, no book is newer than an old one. 

Cornell University, 
January, 1901. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

Introduction i 



PART I 

THE DOUBLE BASIS OF PEDAGOGICS 

CHAPTER „ j 

I. The Ethical Basis / 7 

II. The Psychological Basis / 15 



PART II 

OUTLINES OF GENERAL PEDAGOGICS 
SECTION I. GOVERNMENT OF CHILDREN 

I. Theoretical Aspects 30 

II. Practical Aspects 33 

SECTION II. INSTRUCTION 

I. The Relation of Instruction to Government and Training . 39 

II. The Aim of Instruction 44 

III. The Conditions of Many-sidedness > 51 

IV. The Conditions of Determining Interest J . . . .60 
V. The Main Kinds of Interest .3 76 

VI. The Materials of Instruction from Different Points of View . 93 

VII. The Process of Instruction . 4 105 

VIII. Remarks on the Plan of Instruction as a Whole . . .134 



CONTENTS 



SECTION III. TRAINING 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Relation of Training to Government and to Instruction . 140 

II. The Aim of Training 143 

III. Differentiation of Character 146 

IV. Differentiation of Morality 151 

V. Helps in Training 154 

VI. General Method of Training 160 

SECTION IV. SYNOPSIS OF GENERAL PEDAGOGICS 
FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF AGE 

I. The First Three Years 198 

II. The Ages from Four to Eight 201 

III. Boyhood . 209 

IV. Youth 216 



PART III 

SPECIAL APPLICATIONS OF PEDAGOGICS 

SECTION I. REMARKS ON THE TEACHINGS OF 
PARTICULAR BRANCHES OF STUDY 

I. Religion 219 

II. History 223 

III. Mathematics and Nature Study 241 

IV. Geography 263 

V. The Mother-tongue 269 

VI. Greek and Latin 275 

VII. Further Specification of Didactics 289 

SECTION II. THE FAULTS OF PUPILS AND THEIR 
TREATMENT 

I. General Differentiation 292 

II. The Sources of Moral Weakness 301 



CONTENTS XI 

CHAPTER . PAOB 

III. The Effects of Training 308 

IV. Special Faults 312 

SECTION III. REMARKS ON THE ORGANIZATION 
OF EDUCATION 

I. Home Education . . 317 

II. Concerning Schools • . . 321 



OUTLINES OF EDUCATIONAL 
DOCTRINE 



o&<c 



INTRODUCTION 

I. The plasticity, or educability, of the pupil is the 
fundamental postulate of pedagogics. 

The concept plasticity, or capacity for being moulded, 
extends far beyond the confines of pedagogics. It 
takes in even the primary components of matter. It 
has been traced as far as the elementary substances 
entering into the chemical changes of organic bodies. 
Signs of plasticity of will are found in the souls of 
the higher animals. Only man, however, exhibits plas- 
ticity of will in the direction of moral conduct. 

Had not the youthful mind the capacity to receive culture, 1 
education would be impossible. This educability of the young 
has rarely if ever been questioned in actual practice. Much 
philosophical strife, however, has raged about the various con- 
ceptions of will, and the consequent possibility of teaching 
virtue, or of training the moral character. The extremes have 
been fatalism, or the determination of conduct by means of 
forces lying entirely outside the power of the individual ; and 
absolute caprice of will, or the determination of conduct 



2 INTRODUCTION 

entirely by the individual himself without regard to outside 
influences. The doctrine of fatalism makes moral education 
mechanical ; that of volitional caprice makes it futile. Educa- 
tional theory must therefore assume a middle ground, in which 
the self-activity of the individual and the moulding influence of 
education are both recognized. 

2. Pedagogics as a science is based on ethics and 
psychology. The former points out the goal of edu- 
cation ; the latter the way, the means, and the obstacles. 

This relationship involves the dependence of peda- 
gogics on experience, inasmuch as ethics includes 
application to experience, while psychology has its 
starting-point, not in metaphysics alone, but in expe- 
rience correctly interpreted by metaphysics. But an 
exclusively empirical knowledge of man will not suffice 
for pedagogics. It is the less adequate in any age 
the greater the instability of morals, customs, and opin- 
ions ; for, as the new gains on the old, generalizations 
from former observations cease to hold true. 

In order to accept the statement that ethics points out the 
goal of education, we must conceive of ethics in a broad way. 
At some periods in the history of the world, the development 
of purely individual, or subjective, character would have been 
thought a worthy and adequate conception of the final purpose 
of education. Other-worldliness was the ruling ideal. At pres- 
ent, however, we regard that man as most fit for the world to 
come who best performs all his functions in the world that now 
is. Ethics must therefore be conceived to embrace an estima- 
tion of the value of a man's conduct in every department of 



INTRODUCTION 3 

life. Not only must it estimate the worth of pious feeling, 
but it must embrace a consideration of every action in its rela- 
tion to the actor's social, economic, and political environment. 
A man having a praiseworthy character must be a good citi- 
zen of state, nation, and community; he must be public- 
spirited, law-abiding, given to honest dealing. Every child 
should be trained to be a useful member of civilization as it 
now exists. Piety alone is insufficient; it must be accom- 
panied by honesty, industry, patriotism, public spirit. Non- 
social, or purely individualistic, conceptions of character as the 
goal of education must give way to those social ideals through 
which alone the highest welfare of both individual and com- 
munity are to be conserved. Without such conceptions an 
industrial state, such as now exists, becomes a human jungle 
in which men enter upon a fiercer struggle than do the beasts 
of the real jungle. Social cooperation is essential when we 
wish to transform a struggle of mutual destruction into one of 
mutual helpfulness. 

3. Philosophical systems, involving either fatalism or 
its opposite, pure caprice of will, are logically shut out 
from pedagogics, because the notion of plasticity, imply- 
ing as it does a transition from the indeterminate to 
the determinate, cannot by such systems be brought 
in without inconsistency. 

Common sense overcomes the logical difficulties of even the 
worst systems. Herbart's remark has, therefore, no practical 
significance. The philosophy of Spinoza might easily be de- 
scribed by an opponent as " fatalistic," since it leaves no room 
for special providences in the physical universe ; yet Professor 
Paulsen, who holds substantially to Spinoza's view, is one of 



4 INTRODUCTION 

the most eminent promoters of the theory of education in 
the university of Berlin. Herbart thought Kant's doctrine of 
transcendental will one of absolute volitional caprice, yet the 
followers of Kant have been among the most energetic pro- 
moters of mental and moral training. Herbart thinks he sees 
in this remark a chance to put his philosophical opponents out 
of court, to the benefit of his own system. If one philosopher 
develops a system of "fatalism" and another one of "absolute 
free will," the one may be charged with making education 
impossible and the other with making it futile. In either case, 
since we know that education is neither impossible nor futile, 
the presumption is that both systems are defective. This 
paragraph and others like it are mere indirect methods of 
defending Herbart's system of philosophy : they have no real 
significance for the theory of education itself. 

4. On the other hand, the assumption of unlimited 
plasticity is equally inadmissible; it is for psychology 
to guard against this error. The educability of the 
child is, to begin with, limited by his individuality. 
Then, too, the possibility of determining and moulding 
him at will through education is lessened by time and 
circumstances. Lastly, the established character of 
the adult develops by an inner process which in time 
passes beyond the reach of the educator. 

5. Education seems thus to find a barrier, first, in the 
order of nature, and later in the pupil's own will. The 
difficulty is indeed a real one, if the limitations of educa- 
tion are overlooked : hence an apparent confirmation of 
fatalism as well as of the doctrine of absolute free will. 



INTRODUCTION 5 

Modern scientific evolutionary study of anthropology and 
history tends to confirm the hasty thinker in the idea that the 
circumstances of the environment completely determine the 
character and destiny of men, since their debt to the moulding 
influences of society and physical surroundings becomes more 
and more apparent; yet however powerful the environment 
may prove to be in fixing the direction of mental growth in 
the race, it cannot rightly be conceived as creating the grow- 
ing forces. All the sunshine and warmth in the world will not 
cause a pebble -to sprout; so no external influences whatever 
can develop mind where there is none to develop. The exi- 
gencies of Herbart's metaphysics drove him into a crusade 
against Kant's doctrine of innate freedom, or transcendental 
will ; all the freedom that Herbart would admit was that psy- 
chological freedom which is acquired through instruction and 
training. The quarrel belongs to eighteenth-century metaphys- 
ics, not to modern psychology, nor to education ; for however 
potentially free an infant may be, nobody thinks of making it 
responsible, except so far as growing experience gives it insight 
and volitional strength. 

Note. — Many thinkers fluctuate constantly between these two 
erroneous extremes. When looking historically at mankind as a 
whole, they arrive at fatalism, as does Gunrplowicz in his 
"Outlines of Sociology." Teacher and pupil alike seem to 
them to be in the current of a mighty stream, not swimming, — that 
is, self-active, — which would be the correct view, but carried along 
without wills of their own. They arrive, on the other hand, at the 
idea of a perfectly free will, when they contemplate the individual 
and see him resist external influences, the aims of the teacher very 
often included. Here they fail to comprehend the nature of will, 
and sacrifice the concept of natural law for that of will. Young 
teachers can hardly avoid sharing this uncertainty, favored as it is 



6 INTRODUCTION 

by the philosophies of the day ; much is gained, however, when they 
are able to observe fluctuations of their own views without falling 
into either extreme. 

6. The power of education must be neither over- nor 
under-estimated. The educator should, indeed, try to 
see how much may be done ; but he must always expect 
that the outcome will warn him to confine his attempts 
within reasonable bounds. In order not to neglect any- 
thing essential, he needs to keep in view the practical 
bearings of the whole theory of ideas ; in order to un- 
derstand and interpret correctly the data furnished by 
observation of the child, the teacher must make con- 
stant use of psychology. 

7. In scientific study concepts are separated which 
in practice must always be kept united. The work of 
education is continuous. With an eye to every consid- 
eration at once, the educator must always endeavor to 
connect what is to come with what has gone before. 
Hence a mode of treatment which, following the sev- 
eral periods of school life, simply enumerates the things 
to be done in sequence, is inadequate in a work on 
pedagogics. In an appendix this method will serve to 
facilitate a bird's-eye view; the discussion of general 
principles, arranged according to fundamental ideas, 
must needs precede. But our very first task will neces- 
sarily consist in dealing, at least briefly, with the ethical 
and the psychological basis of pedagogics. 



PART I 

THE DOUBLE BASIS OF PEDAGOGICS 

CHAPTER I 

The Ethical Basis 

8. The term virtue expresses the whole purpose 
of education. Virtue is the idea of inner freedom which 
has developed into an abiding actuality in an individ- 
ual. Whence, as inner freedom is a relation between 
insight and volition, a double task is at once set before 
the teacher. It becomes his business to make actual 
each of these factors separately, in order that later a 
permanent relationship may result. 

Insight is conceived as the perception of what is right or 
wrong. This perception is founded on the spontaneous, or 
intuitive, feeling that arises in the mind when certain elemen- 
tary will-relations are presented to the intelligence. The un- 
perverted mind has a natural antipathy to strife, malevolence, 
injustice, selfishness ; it has a corresponding approval of 
harmony, good-will, justice, benevolence. These feelings 
arise, naturally, only when the appropriate ideas are present. 
Insight, therefore, is a state of feeling or disposition arising 
from knowledge, or ideas. 

When volition has come into permanent accord with edu- 

7 



8 THE DOUBLE BASIS OF PEDAGOGICS 

cated insight, virtue has been attained. Conscience approves 
every virtuous act ; it disapproves every deviation from virtue. 
Inner freedom, therefore, is marked by approving conscience ; 
lack of it, by accusing conscience. The development of virtu- 
ous character is not so easy, however, as might appear from 
these simple statements, for virtue has a shifting, not to 
say a developing character. Elementary as the fundamental 
ethical ideas may be when presented in the home or in the 
kindergarten, they are not elementary when met with in 
modern civilization. At times virtue has been of a military 
character, as in Sparta and Rome ; at other times it has been 
ecclesiastical, as in the Middle Ages. At the present time, in 
addition to all that it has ever been from a purely Christian 
character, it is civil, social, industrial. Virtue in a modern 
city has a content quite different from that in a pioneer mining 
camp. Furthermore, virtue is uneven in its development. 
The race has, for instance, been trained long and hard to 
respect unprotected property, so that we may fairly say such 
respect has become instinctive ; yet when unprotected prop- 
erty comes into new relations to the individual, as in the case 
of borrowed books, we may find only a rudimentary conscience. 
What scholar is not a sufferer from this form of unripe virtue ? 

9. But even here at the outset we need to bear in 
mind the identity of morality with the effort put forth 
to realize the permanent actuality of the harmony be- 
tween insight and volition. To induce the pupil to 
make this effort is a difficult achievement ; at all events, 
it becomes possible only when the twofold training 
mentioned above is well under way. It is easy enough, 
by a study of the example of others, to cultivate theo- 



THE ETHICAL BASIS 9 

retical acumen ; the moral application to the pupil 
himself, however, can be made, with hope of success, 
only in so far as his inclinations and habits have taken 
a direction in keeping with his insight. If such is 
not the case, there is danger lest the pupil, after all, 
knowingly subordinate his correct theoretical judgment 
to mere prudence. It is thus that evil in the strict 
sense originates. 

It is helpful to give the pupil abundant opportunity to pass 
judgment upon the moral quality of actions not his own. The 
best opportunities are at first the most impersonal ones, for 
where the child himself is immediately concerned, the quality 
of his judgment may be impaired by intense personal feelings, 
such as fear of blame or punishment. Literature furnishes the 
earliest and most copious examples ; later, history may be help- 
ful, though there is great danger of taking partial or mistaken 
views as to the moral quality of historical deeds. A selection 
of literature is an artistic whole. All the relations can be 
easily perceived, but any given historical event is likely to be 
a small section of a whole too vast for the youthful mind to 
comprehend. It is for this reason that caution is needed when 
passing judgment upon historical facts. 

To encourage the child to pass judgment in these imper- 
sonal cases is to sharpen his natural perceptions of right and 
wrong, and to influence his disposition favorably. One who 
has been led to condemn cruelty to animals in this way is 
likely to be more thoughtful himself, and less disposed wan- 
tonly to inflict pain. But every resource of authority and 
persuasion, as well as appeal to sensibility and conscience, 
must be employed to make virtuous action habitual, and to 
prevent the generation of evil. 



10 THE DOUBLE BASIS OF PEDAGOGICS 

10. Of the remaining practical or ethical concepts, 
the idea of perfection points to health of body and 
mind; it implies a high regard for both, and their 
systematic cultivation. 

Perfection here means completeness of efficiency, rather than 
acquisition of holiness. An efficient will is strong, vigorous, 
decided ; it is self-consistent in the pursuit of leading purposes, 
not vacillating or incoherent. Still, the idea of moral per- 
fection is not a remote one, for, in order to be thoroughly 
efficient, a will must be in substantial accord with the ethical 
order of a rational society. All its deviations from established 
law and custom will be for their improvement, not for the 
destruction of what is good in them. 

ii. The idea of good-will counsels the educator to 
ward off temptation to ill-will as long as such tempta- 
tion might prove dangerous. It is essential, on the 
other hand, to imbue the pupil with a feeling of 
respect for good-will. 

Good- will is one of the three concrete virtues lying at the 
basis of social order. It is both passive, as in laissez faire atti- 
tudes of mind, and active as in thoroughgoing civic, business, 
and social cooperation. School training must seek to impress 
the mind with respect for the active rather than the passive 
type of good-will. So, too, must it ward off the dangers both 
of passive and active ill-will, as manifested in covetousness, 
malice, malevolence, envy, treachery, stinginess, cruelty, hard- 
heartedness. How these ends may be attained, will be consid- 
ered later. 

12. The idea of justice demands that the pupil ab- 



THE ETHICAL BASIS II 

stain from contention. It demands, furthermore, reflec- 
tion on strife, so that respect for justice may strike 
deep root. 

No idea appeals more strongly to the unperverted youthful 
mind than that of justice or fair play ; even the gentlest 
natures become indignant at manifestations of injustice. The 
basis of the idea is, in the thought of our author, our natural 
displeasure in contention over that which, in the nature of the 
case, only one person can have. Primarily, it concerns prop- 
erty rights, but secondarily it may extend to other relations in 
which two or more wills are at issue. Justice in the acquisi- 
tion, possession, and disposition of wealth is the theme of the 
greater part of every judicial system. The idea of justice is 
the second of the three concrete moral virtues necessary for 
civilized society. 

13. The idea of equity is especially involved in cases 
where the pupil has merited punishment as requital 
for the intentional infliction of pain. Here the de- 
gree of punishment must be carefully ascertained and 
acknowledged as just. 

Note. — This kind of punishment should not be confounded 
with educative punishment — so called, i.e., punishment through 
natural consequences. 

The third concrete moral idea is that of equity, or requital. 
It arises when existing will-relations are altered either for good 
or bad. The natural demand is that the requital shall be ade- 
quate to the deed. Lack of requital for good deeds we call 
ingratitude, one of the most hateful of human failings. In 
savagery and barbarism private vengeance is the normal 
method of requiting injuries. Remnants of this system still 



12 THE DOUBLE BASIS OF PEDAGOGICS 

exist in the duel, and in the fierce vendettas of some sparsely 
settled regions. Civilization demands that requital for evil 
deeds shall be remanded to the executors of established law. 
Only in this way is society saved from destructive broils. In 
this respect, as in so many others, the school is the miniature of 
the institutional world. The teacher is, to a considerable extent, 
lawgiver, judge, and executive. Not a small part of his moral 
influence upon his pupils depends upon the justice of his requi- 
tals for violated law. Good-will, justice or rights, and requital 
are the three fundamental concrete moral ideas upon which 
sound character, both individual and national, is based. The 
remaining two are that of inner freedom and that of effi- 
ciency. Though formal in character, i.e., devoid of positive 
content, they are equally important with the more concrete 
conceptions. 

14. Where a number of pupils are assembled there 
arises, naturally, on a small scale, a system of laws 
and rewards. This system, and the demands which in 
the world at large spring from the same ideas, must 
be brought into accord. 

The school is a miniature world, to be regulated by the 
same system of moral ideas as that which obtains in society. 
Compare '1 82, 310. 

15. The concept of an administrative system has 
great significance for pedagogics, since every pupil, 
whatever his rank or social status, must be trained 
for cooperation in the social whole to fit him for use- 
fulness. This requirement may assume very many 
different forms. 



THE ETHICAL BASIS 1 3 

1 6. Of the system of civilization only the aspect of 
general culture, not that of special training, must be 
emphasized at this point. 

Note. — The principles of practical philosophy which have just 
been briefly indicated are at the same time the starting-points 
of ethical insight for the pupils. If the resolve to direct the will 
accordingly be added, and if the pupil obeys this resolve, such 
obedience constitutes morality. Quite distinct from this is the 
obedience yielded, be the motive feai or affection, to the person 
of the teacher, so long as that higher obedience is not securely 
established. 

17. For the business of education, the idea of per- 
fection, while it does not rise into excessive prominence, 
stands out above all others on account of its uninter- 
rupted application. The teacher discovers in the as 
yet undeveloped human being a force which requires 
his incessant attention to intensify, to direct, and to 
concentrate. 

Note. — The maxim perfice te is neither so universal as Wolff 
asserted, as though it were the sole fundamental principle of ethics, 
nor so objectionable as Kant represents it to be. Perfection, quan- 
titatively regarded (Vollkommenheit — the state of having come 
to fulness), is the first urgent task wherever man shows himself 
lower, smaller, weaker, more narrowly limited, than he might be. 
Growth, in every sense of the word, is the natural destiny of the 
child, and the primary condition of whatever else of worth may be 
expected of him in later life. The principle perfice te was deprived 
of its true meaning by the attempt to define by it the whole of 
virtue — a blunder, since no single practical idea ever exhausts 
the contents of that term. Quite different is the import of the 
next remark, which applies solely to the practice of pedagogy. 



14 THE DOUBLE BASIS OF PEDAGOGICS 

1 8. The constant presence of the idea of perfec- 
tion easily introduces a false feature into moral 
education in the strict sense. The pupil may get an 
erroneous impression as to the relative importance of 
the lessons, practice, and performance demanded of 
him, and so be betrayed into the belief that he is 
essentially perfect when these demands are satisfied. 

19. For this reason alone, if others were wanting, 
it is necessary to combine moral education proper, 
which in everyday life lays stress continually on 
correct self-determination, with religious training. The 
notion that something really worthy has been achieved 
needs to be tempered by humility. Conversely, reli- 
gious education has need of the moral also to forestall 
cant and hypocrisy, which are only too apt to appear 
where morality has not already secured a firm foot- 
hold through earnest self-questioning and self-criticism 
with a view to improvement. Finally, inasmuch as 
moral training must be put off until after insight and 
right habits have been acquired, religious education, 
too, should not be begun too early; nor should it 
be needlessly delayed. 

It is well known what obstacles confront the American 
teacher who desires to give a religious basis to moral character. 
For a full discussion of the subject viewed from numerous 
standpoints, the reader is referred to " Principles of Religious 
Education," Longmans, Green & Co., New York, 1900. 
This book is a series of lectures by prominent school men and 
others. 



CHAPTER II 

The Psychological Basis 

20. It is ' an error, indeed, to look upon the human 
soul as an aggregate of all sorts of faculties ; but 
this error only becomes worse when, as is usually- 
done, the statement is added that faculties are after 
all at bottom one and the same active principle. The 
traditional terms should rather be employed to dis- 
tinguish mental phenomena that present themselves to 
experience as successively predominant. In this way 
we get the leading features of soul-life, which re- 
minds us sufficiently of psychology for our immediate 
purpose. 

21. The stage of predominant sense-activity is fol- 
lowed by that of memory in the sense of exact repro- 
duction of series of percepts previously formed. Traces 
of higher activities are as yet absent. The only thing 
to be noted is that the series, unless rendered long by 
frequent repetition, are generally short; necessarily 
so, since while forming they are exposed to continual 
disturbances caused by great sensitiveness to new 
impressions. 

15 



l6 THE DOUBLE BASIS OF PEDAGOGICS 

22. Even very young children betray at play and 
in speech that form of self-activity ascribed to imagi- 
nation. 

The most insignificant toys, provided they are mov- 
able, occasion changes and combinations of percepts, 
attended even with strong emotion, that astonish the 
mature observer, and perhaps excite anxiety lest some 
of these motley fancies should become fixed ideas. 
No evil after effects are to be feared, however, so 
long as the emotional excitement does not threaten 
health, and passes over quickly. A strong play im- 
pulse is, on the contrary, a promising sign, especially 
when it manifests itself energetically, though late, in 
weak children. 

23. Soon there follows a time when the observation 
of external objects prompts the child to ask innumer- 
able questions. - Here that activity which is called 
power of judgment begins to stir in conjunction with 
reasoning. The child now strives to subsume what is 
new under conceptions already in his mind, and to 
affix their symbols, the familiar words. He is still far, 
withal, from being able to follow an abstract train of 
thought, to employ periodic sentences, and to conduct 
himself rationally throughout. The slightest occasions 
will prove him a child still. 

24. In the meantime, the child manifests, besides 
the physical feelings of pleasure and pain, affection 
for one person and aversion to another; furthermore, 



THE PSYCHOLOGICAL BASIS 17 

a seemingly strong will, together with a violent spirit 
of contradiction, unless this is suppressed in time. 

25. On the other hand, the ethical judgment as a 
rule shows itself at first very seldom and transiently 
— a foreshadowing of the difficulty of securing for it 
later, in spite of obstinacy and selfishness, the function 
of control, on which control depend both morality and 
the higher sense of art. 

26. The boy asks fewer questions, but tries all the 
more to handle and shape things. He is gaining 
knowledge by himself and acquiring dexterity. Gradu- 
ally his respect for his elders increases ; he fears their 
censure and stands in awe of their superiority. At 
the same time he attaches himself more closely to 
other boys of the same age. From now on it becomes 
more difficult to observe him. The teacher who has 
no previous knowledge of boys who have reached this 
age, may long deceive himself in regard to them and 
will seldom obtain complete frankness. * 

This reserve is indicative of more or less self-deter- 
mination, which is commonly attributed to pure reason. 

27. The names for the mental faculties acquire 
renewed importance with the beginning of systematic 
instruction. Their import, however, shows a marked 
difference. Now memory is relied on for the acqui- 
sition, without additions or omissions, of prescribed 
series, the order being fixed or not, as the case may 
be ; usually there is a slight connection with older 



r v 



l8 THE DOUBLE BASIS OF PEDAGOGICS 

ideas. Imagination is called for to lay hold of the 
objects of distant lands and ages. The understanding 
is expected to derive general notions from a limited 
number of particulars, to name and to connect them. 
The development of the ethical judgment teachers 
rarely wait for; obedience to commands is demanded. 
Obedience of this kind depends chiefly on the ease 
with which antecedent ideas are revived and con- 
nected in response to, but not beyond, a given stimulus. 
In extreme cases the fear of punishment effectively 
takes the place of all other motives. But often not 
even the usual memory-work can be successfully ex- 
acted through fear, much less obedience without 
oversight. 

28. Many pupils reveal a curious contrast. In their 
own sphere they display a good memory, a lively im- 
agination, keen understanding ; by the teacher they are 
credited with little of all these. They rule perhaps 
over their playmates because of their superior intelli- 
gence, or possess at least the respect of the latter, 
while in their classes they show only incapacity. Such 
experiences suggest the difficulty of making instruc- 
tion take proper hold of the inner growth of the pupil. 
It is evident, at the same time, that what is custom- 
arily ascribed to the action of the various mental 
faculties takes place in certain groups of ideas. 

29. The grown man has one group of ideas for his 
church, another for his work at home, a third for 



THE PSYCHOLOGICAL BASIS 19 

society, and so on. These groups, though partially- 
interacting and mutually determinant, are far from 
being connected at every point. This is true as early 
as boyhood. The boy has one set of ideas for his 
school, another for the family circle, still another for 
the playground, etc. This fact explains better than 
intentional reserve the observation that a boy is one 
being at home or at school and quite another among 
strangers. 

30. Each body of ideas is made up of complications 
of ideas, which, if- the union is perfect, come and go 
in consciousness as undivided wholes, and of series, 
together with their interlacings, whose members unfold 
successively, one by one, provided they are not checked. 
The closer the union of parts within these complica- 
tions and series, the more absolute the laws according 
to which ideas act in consciousness, the stronger is the 
resistance against everything opposing their movement; 
hence the difficulty of acting upon them through 
instruction. They admit, however, of additions and 
recombinations, and so may in the course of time 
undergo essential changes ; up to a certain point they 
even change of themselves if repeatedly called into 
consciousness by dissimilar occasions, e.g., by the fre- 
quent delivery of the same lecture before different 
audiences. 

The general notions of things are complexes or 
complications of their attributes. Other examples of 



20 THE DOUBLE BASIS OF PEDAGOGICS 

complexes important to instruction are furnished by 
logical concepts and words. But since words of sev- 
eral languages may be perfectly complicated or bound 
together with the same concept, without being just as 
intimately connected with one another, it should be 
noted that when the object or concept comes up at 
different times, it will be joined now with this and 
next with another language. Yet the repeated per- 
ception of the object is not quite the same percep- 
tion as before, although earlier ideas mostly coalesce 
so fully with later homogeneous ideas that the differ- 
ence makes itself felt but little. 

31. The inner structure of groups of ideas becomes 
discernible in a measure when thoughts are bodied 
forth in speech. Its most general aspect is disclosed 
in the construction of a period. Conjunctions par- 
ticularly are important in that they, without denoting 
a content of their own, serve as hints to the listener. 
They point out to him the connection, the antitheses, 
the positiveness, or the uncertainty of the speaker's 
utterances; for the meanings of conjunctions can be 
traced back to the series-form, to negation and certi- 
tude. It should be noted that want and refusal are 
related to negation; expectation, together with hope 
and fear, to uncertainty, so that the consideration of 
thought masses must also include emotional states. 
Children possess the structure of thought just as they 
experience the emotional states, long before they know 



THE PSYCHOLOGICAL BASIS 21 

how to embody the same in words with the help of 
conjunctions. Certain conjunctions, such as, to be 
sure, although, on the contrary, either — or, neither — 
nor, etc., are not adopted by children until late. 

32. Of equal importance with the inner organiza- 
tion of the pupil's ideas are, for the teacher, the 
degree of ease or difficulty with which a given mass 
of ideas is called into consciousness, and its relatively 
long or brief persistence in consciousness. Here we 
are face to face with the conditions of efficient instruc- 
tion and training. The most necessary statements rel- 
ative to this subject will be made under the head of 
interest and character-building. 

33. The capacity for education, therefore, is deter- 
mined not by the relationship in which various originally 
distinct mental faculties stand to one another, but by 
the relations of ideas already acquired to one another, 
and to the physical organism. Every pupil must be 
studied with reference to both. 

Note. — In the minds of those whose early training has been in 
the hands of several persons, whose early life has, perhaps, even 
been spent in different households or has been tossed about by 
changes of fortune, there are usually formed thought masses that 
are heterogeneous and poorly correlated. Nor is it easy to win the 
single-hearted devotion of such boys. They cherish secret wishes, 
they feel contrasts, the nature of which it is difficult to get at, and 
soon strike out in directions which education can frequently not 
encourage. Far more susceptible of educative influences are pupils 
that have been, for a long time, under the guidance of only one 
person, — of the mother especially, — who has had their full con- 



/ 



22 THE DOUBLE BASIS OF PEDAGOGICS 

fidence. It now remains to base their further training on what 
already exists and to refrain from demanding sudden leaps. 

34. Now, in order to gain an adequate knowledge 
of each pupil's capacity for education, observation is 
necessary — observation both of his thought masses 
and of his physical nature. The study of the latter 
includes that of temperament, especially with reference 
to emotional susceptibility. With some, fear is the 
first natural impulse, with others, anger ; some laugh 
and cry easily, others do not. In some cases a very 
slight stimulus suffices to excite the vascular system. 
We need to note furthermore : — 

(1) The games of pupils. Do they in a thoroughly 
childlike manner still play with any object that 
comes to hand ? Do they intentionally change their 
games to suit a varying preference ? Can distinct 
objects of persistent desire be discovered ? 

(2) Their mental capacity and processes as shown 
in their studies. Is the pupil able to grasp long or only 
short series ? Does he make many or few slips in the 
recitation ? Do his lessons find a spontaneous echo in 
his play ? 

(3) Their depth and consistency. Are their utter- 
ances superficial, or do they come from the depths of 
the soul ? A comparative study of words and actions 
will gradually answer this question. 

Such observations will take account also of the 
rhythm of the pupil's mental life as well as of the char- 



THE PSYCHOLOGICAL BASIS 23 

acter of his store of thoughts. The insight thus obtained 
determines the matter and method of instruction. 

The reader will not fail to notice that much of modern child 
study is anticipated in the foregoing paragraphs. Further 
important contributions to the same subject are made in 
paragraphs 294-329. 

35. Instruction in the sense of mere information- 
giving contains no guarantee whatever that it will ma- 
terially counteract faults and influence existing groups 
of ideas that are independent of the imparted informa- 
tion. But it is these ideas that education must reach ; 
for the kind and extent of assistance that instruction 
may render to conduct depend upon the hold it has 
upon them. 

Facts, at least, must serve as material for methodi- 
cal treatment, otherwise they do not enlarge even the 
scope of mental activity. They rise in value when they 
become instinct with life and acquire mobility so as to 
enrich the imagination. But their ethical effect always 
remains questionable so long as they do not help to 
correct or modify the ethical judgment, or desire and 
action, or both. 

This point calls for a few additional distinctions. 
Generally speaking, rudeness decreases in proportion 
to the expansion of the mental horizon by instruction. 
The mere diffusion of desires over the enlarged thought 
area causes them to lose something of their one-sided 
energy. Moreover, if instruction presents ethical sub- 



V 



24 THE DOUBLE BASIS OF PEDAGOGICS 

jects of some kind in a comprehensible way, the pupil's 
disposition undergoes a refining process so that it at 
least approximates a correct estimate of the will, that 
is, the creation of ethical ideas. 

Such favorable results are, however, apt to be out- 
weighed by the harm done when mere knowledge 
becomes the chief aim of ambition. 

36. In order that instruction may act on the pupil's 
ideas and disposition, every avenue of approach should 
be thrown open. The mere fact that we can never 
know with certainty, beforehand, what will influence 
the pupil most, warns us against one-sideness of instruc- 
tion. 

Ideas spring from two main sources, — experience and 
social intercourse. Knowledge of nature — incomplete 
and crude — is derived from the former ; the later fur- 
nishes the sentiments entertained toward our fellow- 
men, which, far from being praiseworthy, are on the 
contrary often very reprehensible. To improve these 
is the more urgent task; but neither ought we to neg- 
lect the knowledge of nature. If we do, we may 
expect error, fantastical notions, and eccentricities of 
every description. 

37. Hence, we have two main branches of instruc- 
tion, — the historical and the scientific. The former 
embraces not only history proper, but language study 
as well; the latter includes, besides natural science, 
mathematics. 



THE PSYCHOLOGICAL BASIS 2$ 

" Historical " must be interpreted to include all human sci- 
ences, such as history, literature, languages, aesthetics, and 
political, economic, and social science. " Scientific " may in- 
clude applied as well as pure science, and then we add all forms 
of industrial training to the curriculum. Other divisions of the 
subject-matter of instruction are often helpful. Thus one may 
speak of the human sciences, the natural sciences, and the eco- 
nomic sciences. The economic sciences include those activi- 
ties where man and nature interact. Dr. Wm. T. Harris 
speaks of five coordinate groups of subjects, corresponding to 
what he calls the " five windows of the soul." 

38. Other reasons aside, the need alone of counter : 
acting selfishness renders it necessary for every school 
that undertakes the education of the whole man to 
place human conditions and relations in the foreground 
of instruction. This humanistic aim should underlie 
the studies of the historical subjects, and only with ref- 
erence to this aim may they be allowed to preponderate. 

An interesting attempt to realize the aim here demanded is 
found in Professor John Dewey's " School and Society," x 
which is in effect a description of what he is working out in his 
practice or experimental school in connection with his depart- 
ment in the University of Chicago. 

" If the aim of historical instruction is to enable the child to 
appreciate the values of social life, to see in imagination the 
forces which favor and let men's effective cooperations with 
one another, to understand the sorts of character that help on 
and that hold back, the essential thing in its presentation is to 
make it moving, dynamic. History must be presented not as 
1 Dewey, "The School and Society," University of Chicago Press, 1899. 



26 THE DOUBLE BASIS OF PEDAGOGICS 

an accumulation of results or effects,, a mere statement of what 
has happened, but as a forceful, acting thing. The motives, 
that is, the motors, must stand out. To study history is not to 
amass information, but to use information in constructing a 
vivid picture of how and why men did thus and so : achieved 
their successes and came to their failures." 1 

Note. — This view does not shut out the other held in regard to 
Gymnasia, namely, that their business is to preserve and perpetuate 
a knowledge of classical antiquity; the latter aim must be made 
congruent with the former. 

39. Mathematical studies, from elementary arithmetic 
to higher mathematics, are to be linked to the pupil's 
knowledge of nature, and so to his experience, in order 
to gain admission into his sphere of thought. Instruc- 
tion in mathematics, however thorough, fails pedagogi- 
cally when the ideas generated form an isolated group. 
They are usually soon forgotten, or, if retained, contrib- 
ute but little toward personal worth. 

It may be added that the leading practical motive in the 
teaching of arithmetic has been economic, the cost of things 
forming the chief reliance for problems. Only those parts of 
nature study that involve important quantitative relations are 
fitted for correlation with mathematics. Biology, for instance, 
which is qualitative, since it deals with life, is a poor support 
for mathematics ; but physics is a good one. 

40. In general, it will always remain a matter of 
uncertainty whether and how instruction will be re- 

1 Dewey, " The Aim of History in Elementary Education," Elementary 
School Record, No, 8, University of Chicago Press, 1900.. 



THE PSYCHOLOGICAL BASIS 2J 

ceived and mentally elaborated. To diminish this 
uncertainty, if for no other reasons, there is need of 
constant endeavor to put the pupil in a frame of mind 
suitable for instruction. This task falls within the 
province of training. 

41. But even apart from reference to instruction, 
training must seek to ward off violent desires and to 
prevent the injurious outbursts of emotion. We may 
grant that after the days of school life are over, indi- 
vidual traits will always break forth again in this re- 
spect; but experiences, too, follow, and in connection 
with these the after-effect of education comes to light 
in proportion as education has been more or less suc- 
cessful. It shows itself in the nature and the amount 
of self-knowledge through which the adult strives to 
restrain his native faults. Seeming exceptions are in 
most cases accounted for by impressions produced in 
very early youth and long concealed. 

As soon as a person attains freedom of action, he 
usually endeavors to achieve the life which in his earlier 
years seemed most desirable. Hence training and 
instruction have each to be directed against the spring- 
ing up of illusive longings and toward a true picture 
of the blessings and burdens of various social classes 
and professions. 

What modifications of individuality training may 
accomplish, is brought about less by restrictions, which 
cannot be permanent, than by inducing an early devel- 



28 THE DOUBLE BASIS OF PEDAGOGICS 

opment of the higher impulses whereby they attain pre- 
dominance. 

42. The larger portion of the restrictions necessary 
during the period of education falls under another head, 
that of government. The question of completeness of 
education aside, children no less than adults need to 
experience the constraint imposed on every one by 
human society : they, too, must be kept within bounds. 
This function the state delegates to the family, to 
guardians, and to the schools. Now the purpose of 
government refers to present order ; that of training to 
the future character of the adult. The underlying 
points of view are accordingly so different that a dis- 
tinction must necessarily be made in a system of 
pedagogics between training and government. 

43. In matters of government, too, much depends on 
how keenly its disciplinary measures are felt. Only 
good training can insure the right kind of sensibility. 
A gentle rebuke may prove more effective than blows. 
The first thing to do, of course, when unruly children 
create disorder, is to govern, to restore order ; but gov- 
ernment and training should, if possible, go together. 
The distinction between these two concepts serves to 
aid the reflection of the teacher, who ought to know 
what he is about, rather than to suggest a perceptible 
separation in practice. 

44. In the following pages, general pedagogics, 
which is followed necessarily by observations of a 



THE PSYCHOLOGICAL BASIS 20, 

more special nature, will be discussed under the three 
main heads, — government, instruction, training. What 
needs to be said concerning government as the primary- 
condition of education will be disposed of first. Next 
comes the theory of instruction and didactics. The 
last place is reserved for training ; for an enduring 
effect could not be expected from it, if it were severed 
from instruction. For this reason the teacher must 
always keep the latter in view when he fixes his atten- 
tion on methods of training, which in actual practice 
always work hand in hand with instruction. The other 
customary form of treatment, that according to age, 
while not adapted to the exposition of principles, finds 
its proper place in the chapter leading over to the dis- 
cussion of special topics. 



PART II 

OUTLINES OF GENERAL PEDAGOGICS 

SECTION I 
GOVERNMENT OF CHILDREN 

CHAPTER I 

Theoretical Aspects 

45. We assume at the outset the existence of all the 
care and nurture requisite for physical growth and 
well-being; a bringing up that shall be as free from 
pampering as from dangerous hardening. There must 
be no actual want to lead a child astray, nor undue 
indulgence to create unnecessary demands. How 
much hardening it is safe to risk will depend in each 
case on the child's constitution. 

46. The foundation of government consists in keep- 
ing children employed. No account is taken as yet 
of the prospective gain to mental culture; the time 
is to be fully occupied, at all events, even if the immedi- 
ate purpose be merely the avoidance of disorder. This 
purpose, however, involves the requirement of ample 

30 



THEORETICAL ASPECTS 3 1 

provision, according to the ages of pupils, for the 
need of physical activity, that the 'cause of natural 
restlessness may be removed. This need is more ur- 
gent with some than with others; there are children 
that seem ungovernable because compelled to sit still. 

47. Other things being equal, self-chosen occupa- 
tions deserve the preference ; but it rarely happens that 
children know how to keep themselves busy sufficiently 
and continuously. Specific tasks, not to be abandoned 
until completed, assure order much better than random 
playing, which is apt to end in ennui. It is desirable 
that adults possessing the requisite patience assist chil- 
dren, if not always, at least frequently, in their games ; 
that they explain pictures, tell stories, have them retold, 
etc. With advancing maturity, a steadily increasing 
proportion of the occupations assumes the character 
of instruction or of exercises growing out of it ; this 
work should be properly balanced by recreations. 

48. Next in order comes supervision, and with it 
numerous commands and prohibitions. Under this 
head several things must be considered. 

In the first place this : Whether under certain circum- 
stances one might withdraw a command or permit what 
has once been forbidden. It is ill-advised to give an 
order more sweeping than the execution is meant 
to be; and it weakens government to yield to the 
entreaties, the tears, or, worse still, the impetuous 
insistence of children. 



32 GOVERNMENT OF CHILDREN 

Also this question: Whether it is possible to make 
sure of obedience. Where children are not kept busy 
and are left without oversight, the issue becomes 
doubtful. 

The difficulty grows at a rapid rate with an increase 
in numbers. This is true especially of larger educa- 
tional institutions, but, on account of the coming and 
going of pupils, applies in a measure also to common 
day schools. 

49. The usual solution is greater strictness of super- 
vision. But this involves the risk of utter failure to 
receive voluntary obedience, and of inciting a match 
game in shrewdness. 

As to voluntary obedience, much depends on the 
ratio of restraint to the freedom that still remains. 
Ordinarily, youth submits readily enough to many re- 
strictions, provided such restrictions bear upon specific 
fixed points, and leave elbow room for independent 
action. 

In the work of supervision the teacher will find it 
hard to rely on himself entirely, particularly if he has 
charge of classes only at stated times. Others must 
assist him ; he himself will have to resort occasionally 
to surprises. Supervision is always an evil when 
coupled with unnecessary distrust. It is essential, 
therefore, to make those who do not merit distrust 
understand that the measures adopted are not directed 
against them. 



CHAPTER II 

Practical Aspects 

50. Since supervision is not to be vigorous to the 
point of ever felt pressure, child government, to be 
effective, requires both gentle and severe measures. 
In general, this effectiveness results from the natural 
superiority of the adult, a fact of which teachers some- 
times need to be reminded. Whatever the plan of 
supervision, there must be coupled with it an ade- 
quate mode of disciplinary procedure. A record 
should be kept in schools, not for the law-abiding 
pupils, but for those guilty of repeated acts of diso- 
bedience. These remarks do not thus far include any 
reference to marks and records pertaining to educa- 
tion proper ; they are confined to what is popularly, 
but loosely, called discipline, that is, the training of 
pupils to conform to the system of order that obtains 
in the school. 

Home training seldom requires such bookkeeping ; 
but even here it may at times be useful. Of course, 
the individual child knows in any case that some one 
is keeping an eye on his actions, but the fact be- 
comes more deeply impressed upon his memory if 
the reproofs incurred by him are recorded. 
d 33 



34 GOVERNMENT OF CHILDREN 

51. It would be in vain to attempt to banish entirely 
the corporal punishments usually administered after 
fruitless reprimands ; but use should be made of them 
so sparingly that they be feared rather than actually 
inflicted. 

Recollection of the rod does not hurt a boy. Nor 
is there any harm in his present conviction that a 
flogging is henceforth as much beyond the range of 
possibility as his meriting such treatment. But it 
would, no doubt, be injurious to actually violate his 
self-respect by a blow, however little he might mind 
the physical pain. And pernicious in the highest de- 
gree, although, nevertheless, not quite obsolete yet, is 
the practice of continuing to beat children already 
hardened to blows. Brutish insensibility is the con- 
sequence, and the hope is almost vain that even a long 
period of now unavoidable indulgence will restore a 
normal state of feeling. 

There is less objection to making use, for a few 
hours, of hunger as a corrective. Here only an act 
of deprivation takes place, not one involving a direct 
insult. 

Curtailment of freedom is the most commonly em- 
ployed form of punishment ; justly so, provided it be 
properly adjusted to the offence. Moreover, it admits 
of the most varied gradations from standing in a 
corner to confinement in a dark room, perhaps even 
with hands tied together behind the back. Only, for 



PRACTICAL ASPECTS 35 

several serious reasons, this punishment must not be 
of long duration. A whole hour is more than enough 
unless there is careful supervision. Besides, the place 
must be chosen judiciously. 

Solitary confinement, especially in a dark room, is seldom 
if ever resorted to in American public schools. For remarks 
upon the social basis of modern school punishments, see 55. 

52. Corrections of such severity, as removal from 
home or expulsion from an institution, are to be 
administered only in extreme cases ; for what is to 
become of the expelled pupil ? A burden to another 
school? And in case the transfer implies the same 
freedom, the old disorderly conduct will usually be 
resumed. Such pupils must, therefore, be placed 
under very strict supervision and given new occupa- 
tions. We must trust to the new environment to ob- 
literate gradually the old vitiated circle of thought. 

53. It is a well-known fact that authority and love 
are surer means of securing order than harsh measures 
are. But authority cannot be created by every one at 
will. It implies obvious superiority in mind, in knowl- 
edge, in physique, in external circumstances. Love 
can, indeed, be gained in the course of time by a com- 
plaisant manner — the love of well-disposed pupils ; but 
just where government becomes most necessary, com- 
plaisance has to cease. Love must not be purchased at 
the expense of weak indulgence ; it is of value only 
when united with the necessary severity. 



36 GOVERNMENT OF CHILDREN 

54. In early childhood and with healthy children, 
government is, on the whole, easy. It continues to be 
easy after they have once formed habits of obedience. 
But it should not be interrupted. Even if children have 
been left to themselves or in charge of strangers only a 
few days, the change is noticeable. It requires an effort 
to tighten the reins again — something not to be done 
too suddenly. 

Where boys have been allowed to run wild, the 
attempt to bring them back to orderly conduct reveals 
the differences of individuality. Some are easily made 
to return to appropriate work by kindness combined 
with a moderate measure of forbearance, others have 
sense enough to fear threats and to avoid penalties; 
but we may unfortunately also expect to find a few 
whose sole thought is to escape from supervision, how- 
ever unpleasant for them the consequences may be. 

Where home ties are wanting, this spirit may develop 
even during boyhood with ominous rapidity ; during 
adolescence the difficulty of checking it may grow to 
be insuperable. 

55. As a rule, it is reasonable to assume that youth 
will try to break through restraints as soon as these are 
felt. A sufficient amount of satisfying activity, together 
with uniform firmness of the lines of restraint, will, 
indeed, soon put an end to persistent attempts of this 
kind ; yet they will be repeated from time to time. As 
boys grow older there is a change of pursuits ; now the 



PRACTICAL ASPECTS 37 

restraining boundaries must gradually be enlarged. 
The question now is whether education has progressed 
sufficiently far to make government less indispensable. 
Moreover, the choice of work comes to be determined 
by the prospects opening before the young man, accord- 
ing to his rank and means, together with his native 
capabilities and acquired knowledge. To encourage 
such pursuits as being appropriate for him, and, on the 
other hand, to reduce mere hobbies and diversions to 
harmless proportions, still remains the function of gov- 
ernment. In any case government should not be wholly 
surrendered too early, least of all when the environment 
is such as to justify apprehension of temptation. 

* Though American teachers are perhaps not accustomed to 
emphasize the distinction between government for order and 
training for character, the difference, nevertheless, exists, often 
in an exaggerated form. Just as fever is looked upon as the 
measure of functional disturbance in the body, so disorder in 
the schoolroom is looked upon as the measure of the teacher's 
failure. As fever is the universal symptom of disease, so dis- 
order is the index of failure. ' The diagnosis may err in either 
case as to what the seat of the difficulty really is, but that 
something is wrong is plain to all. The fact that the public usu- 
ally gauge a teacher's efficiency by the order he keeps has led 
in the past to an exaggerated emphasis upon school discipline. 
The means for securing good order have greatly changed since 
Herbart's time. A growing sense of social solidarity in the 
community, together with the all but universal employment of 
women as teachers in the elementary grades, has transferred 



38 GOVERNMENT OF CHILDREN 

the basis of discipline from the teacher to the community. It 
is social pressure in and out of the school that is the main 
reliance for regularity, punctuality, and order. Herbart won- 
ders what will become of the bad boy if he is expelled. The 
modern answer is, he will be sent to the reform school or to the 
truant school. The teacher still stands as of old at the point 
of contact between the institution and the individual; nor can 
he entirely escape the heat generated at times by such con- 
tact, but, after all, it is society that now supplies the pressure 
formerly exerted by will and birch. The teacher is now more 
of a mediator between the pupil and the organized community, 
than an avenger of broken law. 



SECTION II 
INSTRUCTION 

CHAPTER I 

The Relation of- Instruction to Government and 
Training 

56. Instruction furnishes a part of those occupa- 
tions which lie at the basis of government ; how large 
a part depends on circumstances. 

Children must be kept employed at all events, 
because idleness leads to misbehavior and lawless- 
ness. Now if the employment consists of useful labor, 
say in the workshop or on the farm, so much the better. 
Better still, if the work teaches the child something 
that will contribute to his further education. But not 
all employment is instruction ; and in cases where the 
mere government of children is a difficult matter, les- 
sons are not always the most adequate employment. 
Many a growing boy will be taught orderly conduct 
much sooner when placed with a mechanic or mer- 
chant or farmer than in school. The scope of govern- 
ment is wider than that of instruction. 

39 



40 INSTRUCTION 

Teachers of manual training everywhere testify to the quiet- 
ing effect of directed physical labor upon stormy spirits. Even a 
truant school or a school for incorrigibles becomes an attractive 
place to the inmates when adequate provision is made for the 
exercise of the motor powers. Most children can be controlled 
through mental occupation, but there are some to whom motor 
activity is indispensable. That a judicious apportionment of 
sensory and motor activity would favorably affect the develop- 
ment of all children is not to be questioned. 

57. Instruction and training have this in common, 
that each makes for education and hence for the 
future, while government provides for the present. 
A distinction should, however, be made here. Instruc- 
tion is far from being always educative or pedagogical. 
Where acquisition of wealth and external success 
or strong personal preference supply the motives 
for study, no heed is paid to the question : What will 
be the gain or loss to character ? One actuated by 
such motives sets out, such as he is, to learn one 
thing or another, no matter whether for good or bad 
or for indifferent ends ; to him the best teacher is he 
who imparts tuto, cito, jucunde, the proficiency desired. 
Instruction of this kind is excluded from our discus- 
sion ; we are concerned here only with instruction 
that educates in the moral sense of the term. 

58. Man's worth does not, it is true, lie in his 
knowing, but in his willing. But there is no such 
thing as an independent faculty of will. Volition has 
its roots in thought ; not, indeed, in the details one 



RELATION TO GOVERNMENT AND TRAINING 4 1 

knows, but certainly in the combinations and total 
effect of the acquired ideas. The same reason, 
therefore, which in psychology accounts for consider- 
ing the formation of ideas first, and then desire and 
volition, necessitates a corresponding order in peda- 
gogics : first the theory of instruction, then that of 
training. 

Note. — Formerly, strange to say, no distinction was made 
between government and training, although it is obvious that the 
immediate present demands attention more urgently than does the 
future. Still less was instruction given its true place. The greater 
or smaller amount of knowledge, regarded as a matter of secondary 
importance in comparison with personal culture, was taken up last. 
The treatment of education as the development of character pre- 
ceded that of instruction, just as though the former could be realized 
without the latter. During the last decades, however, a demand 
has arisen for greater activity on the part of schools, primarily the 
higher schools. Humanistic studies are to bestow humanity, or 
culture. It has come to be understood that the human being is 
more easily approached from the side of knowledge than from the 
side of moral sentiments and disposition. Furthermore, examina- 
tions might be set on the former, but not on the latter. Now the 
time for instruction was found to be too limited — a want that the 
old Latin schools had felt but little. This led to discussions as to 
the relative amount due each branch of study. We shall treat 
chiefly of the correlation of studies, for whatever remains isolated 
is of little significance. 

59. In educative teaching, the mental activity incited 

by it is all important. This activity instruction is to 

increase, not to lessen ; to ennoble, not to debase. 

Note. — A diminution of mental activity ensues, when, because 
of much study and of sitting — especially at all sorts of written work, 



42 INSTRUCTION 

often useless — physical growth is interfered with in a way sooner 
or later to the injury of health. Hence the encouragement given in 
recent years to gymnastic exercises, which may, however, become 
too violent. Deterioration sets in when knowledge is made subser- 
vient to ostentation and external advantages — the objectionable 
feature of many public examinations. Schools ought not to be 
called upon to display all they accomplish. By such methods 
instruction not only works against its own true end, but also con- 
flicts with training, whose aim for the whole future of the pupil 
is — mens sana in corpore sano. 

60. If all mental activity were of only one kind, the 
subject-matter of instruction would be of no conse- 
quence. But we need not go beyond experience to 
see that the opposite is true, that there is a great 
diversity of intellectual endowment. Yet while in- 
struction must thus be differentiated, it should not be 
made so special as to cultivate only the more promi- 
nent gifts ; otherwise the pupil's less vigorous mental 
functions would be wholly neglected and perhaps sup- 
pressed. Instruction must rather be manifold, and 
its manifoldness being the same for many pupils in so 
far as it may help to correct inequalities in mental 
tendencies. 

Not only is subject-matter to be varied on account of mental 
diversity, but also for social reasons as well. For an enlarge- 
ment of this theme, see the annotation to paragraph 65. 

61. What is to be taught and learned is, accord- 
ingly, not left for caprice and conventionality to 
decide. In this respect instruction differs in a strik- 



RELATION TO GOVERNMENT AND TRAINING 43 

ing manner from government, for which, if only idle- 
ness is prevented, it hardly matters what work children 
are given to do. 

Note. — Children are sent to school from many homes simply 
because they are in the way and their parents do not wish them to 
be idle. The school is regarded as an institution whose chief 
function is to govern, but which incidentally also imparts useful 
knowledge. Here there is a lack of insight into the nature of true 
mental culture ; • teachers, on the contrary, sometimes forget that they 
are giving pupils work, and that work should not exceed reasonable 
limits. 



CHAPTER II 

The Aim of Instruction 

62. The ultimate purpose of instruction is contained 
in the notion, virtue. But in order to realize the final 
aim, another and nearer one must be set up. We 
may term it, many-sidedness of interest. The word 
interest stands in general for that kind of mental 
activity which it is the business of instruction to 
incite. Mere information does not suffice ; for this 
we think of as a supply or store of facts, which a 
person might possess or lack, and still remain the 
same being. But he who lays hold of his informa- 
tion and reaches out for more, takes an interest in it. 
Since, however, this mental activity is varied (60), we 
need to add the further determination supplied by the 
term many-sidedness. 

It has been pointed out x what the content of the word virtue 
must be, if this word is to be an adequate expression for the 
ultimate purpose of instruction. Virtue must embrace not only 
what is purely individual, or subjective, such as piety and hu- 
maneness of disposition, but it must likewise include what is 
objective, or social, in conduct. This fact lends a new signifi- 
cance to the doctrine of interest, for though a normal child is not 

1 Paragraphs 8-15. 
44 



THE AIM 45 

naturally interested in introspective analysis of his feelings, he 
is spontaneously interested in what is objective and within the 
range of his experience. The enterprises of his mates, the reg- 
ulations of his school or home, the erection of houses, the 
introduction of new machinery, the social doings of the neigh- 
borhood, the havoc created by the elements, the prominent 
features of the changing year — all these claim his closest at- 
tention. The common school studies deal with these very 
things. Literature (reading) and history reveal to him the 
conduct of men ; the one considering it ideally, the other his- 
torically. Mathematics teaches the mastery of material when 
considered quantitatively, whether in trade or manufacture or 
construction. Nature studies bring the child into intimate 
touch with the significant in his natural environment. Geogra- 
phy shows him the most obvious features of the industrial 
activity about him. It shows him the chief conditions of produc- 
tion in crops and manufactures ; it also gives him hints of the 
great business of commerce. In all these studies, the natural 
inclinations of the mind are directly appealed to. Not a little 
of the importance of the doctrine of interest in instruction 
depends upon these facts ; for both the insight and the disposi- 
tion that instruction is capable of imparting to the pupil relates 
specifically to the objective side of his character, the one most 
in need of development and most susceptible of it. 

63. We may speak also of indirect as distinguished 
from direct interest. But a predominance of indirect 
interest tends to one-sidedness, if not to selfishness. 
The interest of the selfish man in anything extends 
only so far as he can see advantages or disadvantages 
to himself. In this respect the one-sided man approxi- 



46 INSTRUCTION 

mates the selfish man, although the fact may escape 
his own observation ; since he relates everything to the 
narrow sphere for which he lives and thinks. Here 
lies his intellectual power, and whatever does not 
interest him as means to his limited ends, becomes 
an impediment. 

It is important for the teacher to see the full scope of the 
doctrine of interest in its relation to effort. In Herbart's psy- 
chology it assumes a most important place, since the primacy 
of mental life is, in this system, ascribed to ideas. In other 
systems, notably those of Kant, Schopenhauer, Von Hartmann, 
Paulsen, primacy is ascribed to the will, first in unconscious or 
subconscious striving, later in conscious volition. This funda- 
mental difference in standpoint will account for the emphasis 
laid now upon interest, now upon effort. Herbart conceives 
that conscious feelings, desires, motives, and the like have their 
source in ideas, and that volition in turn arises from the various 
emotional states aroused by the ideas. Interest with him thus 
becomes a permanent or ever renewed, ever changing, ever 
growing desire for the accomplishment of certain ends. It is, 
consequently, a direct, necessary stimulus to the will. Sys- 
tems, however, that regard the will as the primary factor in 
mental life, conceiving of ideas only as a means for revealing 
more clearly the ends of volition, together with the best 
methods of reaching them, are naturally prone to place the 
emphasis upon effort, leaving to interest but a secondary or 
quite incidental function. Dr. John Dewey has attempted to 
reconcile these two views. 1 Interest and effort are comple- 
mentary, not opposing ideas. To emphasize one at the 

1 " Interest as Related to the Will," second supplement to the Herbart 
Year Book, revised and reprinted, Chicago University Press, 1S99. 



THE AIM 47 

expense of the other, is to assume that the ends for which we 
act lie quite outside of our personality, so that these ends 
would, on the one hand, have to be made interesting, or, on 
the other, struggled for without regard to interest. This 
assumption is an error. The ends for which we strive must be 
conceived as internal, our efforts being regarded as attempts 
at self-realization in definite directions. The purpose of our 
action is therefore an end desired. In this we have an interest 
surely. As 'an educational doctrine, however, interest concerns 
chiefly the means of reaching these ends. If interest in the 
means is wanting, the child works with a divided attention. He 
gives only so much to the means as he must ; the remainder 
is devoted to his own affairs, — the past or coming ball-game, 
the picnic, the walk in the woods, the private enterprises of 
home or school. But if a lively interest is felt in the means to 
the end, then the whole self is actively employed for the time 
being in the accomplishment of the purpose of the hour. The 
attention is no longer divided, it is concentrated upon the mat- 
ter in hand. This in the school is work. When the atten- 
tion is divided we have drudgery. This signifies that the 
interest felt in the end, say a dollar, is not felt in the means of 
attaining it, say a day's labor. However inevitable drudgery 
may be in life, it should have no place in the schoolroom. 
The teacher must so present the studies that the pupil can 
perceive at least a fraction of their bearing upon life. This 
awakens an interest in them as ends. He must, then, by con- 
formity to the psychological order of learning, by enthusiasm 
and ingenuity, so teach the subjects that the natural interest in 
the end will be constantly enhanced through a lively interest in 
the daily lesson as the means of reaching it. The result is 
unified attention, zeal in the pursuit of knowledge, hospitality 
for ethical ideals. 



48 INSTRUCTION 

64. As regards the bearings of interest on virtue, 
we need to remember that many-sidedness of interest 
alone, even of direct interest such as instruction is to 
engender, is yet far from being identical with virtue 
itself; also that, conversely, the weaker the original 
mental activity, the less likelihood that virtue will be 
realized at all, not to speak of the variety of manifes- 
tation possible in action. Imbeciles cannot be virtu- 
ous. Virtue involves an awakening of mind. 

The conception, that by awakening many-sided direct interest 
in the studies we can powerfully affect character, is perhaps 
peculiar to the thought of Herbart. Yet when we consider 
that the knowledge taught in the school goes to the root of 
every vital human relation, that, in other words, the studies may 
be made instruments for progressively revealing to the child his 
place and function in the world, it follows as a necessary conse- 
quence, that to interest the pupil thoroughly in these branches 
of learning, is to work at the foundation of his character, so far, 
at least, as insight into duty and disposition to do it are con- 
cerned. Even if interest in ethical things is not of itself virtue, 
it is an important means for securing virtue. This idea adds to 
the teacher's resources for the development of character. It 
also opens up to him a new realm for research. All literature, 
history, science, mathematics, geography, language, may be 
examined from this new standpoint, both with respect to selec- 
tion and to methods of presentation. Select the portions that 
pertain intimately to life ; teach them so that their important 
bearing upon it may be seen. 

Note. — As has been stated already (17), the most immediate 
of the practical ideas demanding recognition from the teacher is the 



THE AIM 



49 



idea of perfection. Now, with reference to this idea, three factors 
are to be considered : the intensity, the range, the unification of 
intellectual effort. Intensity is implied in the word interest] exten- 
sion is connoted by many-sidedness ; what is meant by unification 
will be briefly indicated in the next paragraph. 

65. Scattering no less than one-sidedness forms an 
antithesis to many-sidedness. Many-sidedness is to 
be the basis of virtue ; but the latter is an attri- 
bute of personality, hence it is evident that the unity 
of self-consciousness must not be impaired. The busi- 
ness of instruction is to form the person on many 
sides, and accordingly to avoid a distracting or dis- 
sipating effect. And instruction has successfully 
avoided this in the case of one who with ease sur- 
veys his well-arranged knowledge in all of its unifying 
relations and holds it together as his very own. 

This section points to the correlation of studies, a subject to 
be considered hereafter in detail. It also throws light upon 
the modern system of elective courses or elective studies in 
secondary and higher education. The teachable subjects have 
now become so numerous that election is imperative unless 
what is to be taught is determined arbitrarily without re- 
gard to the needs or inclinations of students. Furthermore, 
election is made imperative by the fact that the higher educa- 
tion is now open to all minds of all social classes, and that dif- 
ferentiated industry calls for many kinds of education. But the 
need for mental symmetry, no less imperative now than in the 
past, is reinforced by the need for social symmetry. Education 
must put the student into sympathetic touch with the whole of 
life, not a mere segment of it. Since many-sidedness cannot 

E 



50 INSTRUCTION 

be interpreted to mean knowledge of all subjects, this being 
impossible, it must be interpreted to mean knowledge of all 
departments of learning. Election may be permitted to em- 
phasize departments of study, but not to ignore them entirely. 
There are four or more languages worth teaching, many depart- 
ments of history, numerous sciences, and various branches of 
mathematics, not to speak of the economic, political, and social 
sciences. Enough of each department being given to insure 
intelligent sympathy with the aspect of civilization it presents, 
the student may be allowed to place the emphasis upon such 
groups of studies as best conserve his tastes, his ability, and his 
destination in life. 



CHAPTER III 

The Conditions of Many-sidedness 

66. It becomes obvious at once that a many-sided 
culture cannot be brought about quickly. The requi- 
site store of ideas is acquired only by successive 
efforts ; but unification, a view of the whole, and assimi- 
lation are to be attained besides (65), whence an alter- 
nation, in time, of absorption and reflection. The 
apprehension of the manifold is of necessity a gradual 
process, and the same is true of the unification of 
knowledge. 

In absorption the mind surrenders itself to the acquisition or 
contemplation of facts. Thus a child will stand in open-eyed 
wonder at beholding a novel spectacle, the scientist becomes 
absorbed in watching the outcome of a new experiment, the 
philosopher loses consciousness to all about him in the unfold- 
ing of some new train of thought. Not only may absorption 
concern momentary experiences, but it may in a broad way be 
said to cover considerable periods of life, as, for instance, when 
a student becomes absorbed in the mastery of foreign languages 
having no immediate relation to his daily life. Reflection is the 
assimilation of the knowledge gained by absorption. The mind, 
recovering from its absorption in what is external, relates its 
new-found experience to the sum of its former experiences. 

5* 



52 INSTRUCTION 

New items of knowledge in this way find their appropriate 
places in the organic structure of the mind. They are apper- 
ceived. The many-sided thus comes to unity. 

Rosenkranz calls absorption and reflection, self -estrangement 
and its removal. "All culture," he says, "whatever may be 
its special purport, must pass through these two stages, — of 
estrangement, and its removal." Again, he says, "The mind 
is (i) immediate (or potential) ; but (2) it must estrange itself 
from itself, as it were, so that it may place itself over against 
itself as a special object of attention; (3) this estrangement is 
finally removed through a further acquaintance with the object 
... it feels itself at home in that on which it looks, and returns 
again enriched to the form of immediateness (to unity with it- 
self). That which at first appeared to be another than itself is 
now seen to be itself." l This is an abstract statement of the 
fact that (1) in learning the mind becomes absorbed for a time 
in external objects, ignoring temporarily their inner meaning 
and relation to self, and (2) this period of absorption is suc- 
ceeded by one of reflection, in which the mind perceives the 
significance of what has been observed, noting the laws and 
principles underlying the phenomena and thus assimilating them 
to what it conceives to be rational. 

Owing to the fact that absorption and reflection may refer to 
very short and also to comparatively long periods, they may be 
studied with respect to their bearing in conducting recitations, 
and to their importance in fixing courses of study. The former 
aspect of the two processes will in this connection chiefly oc- 
cupy our attention. 

67. Some teachers lay great stress on the explica- 
tion, step by step, of the smaller and smallest com- 

1 " Philosophy of Education," pp. 27, 28, New York, D. Appleton & Co. 



THE CONDITIONS OF MANY-SIDEDNESS 53 

ponents of the subject, and insist on a similar repro- 
duction on the part of the pupils. Others prefer to 
teach by conversation, and allow themselves and their 
pupils great freedom of expression. Others, again, 
call especially for the leading thoughts, but demand 
that these be given with accuracy and precision, and 
in the prescribed order. Others, finally, are not satis- 
fied until their pupils are self-actively exercising their 
minds in systematic thinking. 

Various methods of teaching may thus arise ; it is 
not necessary, however, that one should be habitually 
employed to the exclusion of the rest. We may ask 
rather whether each does not contribute its share to 
a many-sided culture. In order that a multitude of 
facts may be apprehended, explications or analyses 
are needed to prevent confusion ; but since a synthe- 
sis is equally essential, the latter process may be 
started by conversation, continued by lifting into 
prominence the cardinal thoughts, and completed by 
the methodical independent thinking of the pupil : 
clearness, association, system, method. 

In teaching we need to have (i) clearness in the presenta- 
tion of specific facts, or the elements of what is to be mas- 
tered; (2) association of these facts with one another, and 
with other related facts formerly acquired, in order that 
assimilation, or apperception, may be adequately complete ; 
(3) when sufficient facts have been clearly presented and 
sufficiently assimilated, they must be systematically ordered, 



54 INSTRUCTION 

so that our knowledge will be more perfectly unified than it 
could be did we stop short of thorough classification, as in the 
study of botany, or of the perception of rules and principles, 
as in mathematics and grammar; (4) finally the facts, rules, 
principles, and classifications thus far assumed must be secured 
for all time by their efficient methodical application in exer- 
cises that call forth the vigorous self-activity of the pupil. 
These four stages of teaching may be considered funda- 
mental, though varying greatly according to the nature of the 
subject and the ability of the pupil. It is good exercise for 
a pupil to take long, rapid steps when able to do so ; it is 
hopeless confusion to undertake them when they are too 
great or too rapid for his capacity. These four stages in 
methods of teaching conceived to be essential, form the nucleus 
of an interesting development in the Herbartian school, under 
the title of " The Formal [i.e. Essential] Steps of Instruction." 
The leading ideas will be further described in a subsequent 
paragraph (70). 

68. On closer inspection we find that instead of 
being mutually exclusive, these various modes of 
instruction are requisite, one by one, in the order 
given above, for every group, small or- large, of sub- 
jects to be taught. 

For, first, the beginner is able to advance but slowly. 
For him the shortest steps are the safest steps. He 
must stop at each point as long as is necessary to 
make him apprehend distinctly each individual fact. 
-To this he must give his whole thought. During the 
initial stage, the teacher's art consists, therefore, pre- 
eminently in knowing how to resolve his subject into 



THE CONDITIONS OF MANY-SIDEDNESS 55 

very small parts. In this way he will avoid taking 
sudden leaps without being aware that he is doing so. 

Secondly, association cannot be effected solely by 
a systematic mode of treatment, least of all at first. 
In the system each part has its own fixed place. At 
this place it is connected directly with the nearest 
other parts, but also separated from other more remote 
parts by a definite distance, and connected with these 
only by way of determinate intervening members, or 
links. Besides, the nature of this connection is not 
the same everywhere. Furthermore, a system is not 
to be learned merely. It is to be used, applied, and 
often needs to be supplemented by additions inserted 
in appropriate places. To be able to do this requires 
skill in diverting one's thoughts from any given start- 
ing-point to every other point, forward, backward, side- 
ways. Hence two things are requisite ; preparation 
for the system, and application of the system. Prepa- 
ration is involved in association ; exercise in systematic 
thinking must follow. 

69. During the first stage, when the clear apprehen- 
sion of the individual object or fact is the main thing, 
the shortest and most familiar words and sentences 
are the most appropriate. The teacher will often find 
it advisable also to have some, if not all, of the pupils 
repeat them accurately after him. As is well known, 
even speaking in concert has been tried in many 
schools not entirely without success, and for young 



56 INSTRUCTION 

beginners this method may indeed at times answer 
very well. 

For association, the best mode of procedure is in- 
formal conversation, because it gives the pupil an oppor- 
tunity to test and to change the accidental union of 
his thoughts, to multiply the links of connection, and 
to assimilate, after his own fashion, what he has 
learned. It enables him, besides, to do at least a part 
of all this in any way that happens to be the easiest 
and most convenient. He will thus escape the inflexi- 
bility of thought that results from a purely systematic 
learning. 

? System, on the other hand, calls for a more con- 
nected discourse, and the period of presentation must 
be separated more sharply from the period of repeti- 
tion. By exhibiting and emphasizing the leading prin- 
ciples, system impresses upon the minds of pupils the 
value of organized knowledge ; through its greater com- 
pleteness it enriches their store of information. But 
pupils are incapable of appreciating either advantage 
when the systematic presentation is introduced too 
early. 

Skill in systematic thinking the pupil will obtain 
through the solution of assigned tasks, his own inde- 
pendent attempts, and their correction. For such 
work will show whether he has fully grasped the gen- 
eral principles, and whether he is able to recognize 
them in and apply them to particulars. 



THE CONDITIONS OF MANY-SIDEDNESS 57 

70. These remarks on the initial analysis and the 
subsequent gradual uniting of the matter taught, hold 
true, in general and in detail, of the most diverse 
objects and branches of instruction. Much remains 
to be added, however, to define with precision the 
application of these principles to a given subject and 
to the age of the pupil. It will suffice, for the present, 
if we remind ourselves that instruction provides a por- 
tion of the occupations necessary to government (56). 
Now, instruction produces fatigue in proportion to 
its duration ; more or less, of course, according to 
individual differences. But the more fatiguing it is, 
the less it accomplishes as employment. This fact 
alone shows clearly the necessity of intermissions and 
change of work. If the pupil has become actually 
tired, that is, has not lost merely inclination to work, 
this feeling must be allowed, as far as is practicable, 
to pass away, at any rate to diminish, before the same 
subject is resumed in a somewhat modified form. In 
order to have time enough for this, the systematic 
presentation must in many cases be postponed until 
long after the first lessons in the elements have begun, 
and conversely, the rudiments of a subject frequently 
have to be at least touched upon long before connected 
instruction can be thought of. Many a principle needs 
to be approached from a great distance. 

Herbart found his basis for the four steps of method, viz. 
clearness, association, system, method, in the ideas of absorp- 



58 INSTRUCTION 

tion and reflection, the alternate pulsation of consciousness in 
absorbing and assimilating knowledge. Others, adopting this 
classification as essentially correct, have related these steps to 
customary psychological analysis. Thus Dorpfeld and Wiget 
point out that the mind goes through three well-marked pro- 
cesses when it performs the complete act of learning, namely, 
perception of new facts ; thought, or the bringing of ideas into 
logical relations ; and application, or the exercise of the motor 
activities of the mind in putting knowledge into use. Percep- 
tion gives the percept, thought gives the cojiception (or rule, 
principle, generalization), and application gives poiuer. In 
other words, the receptive and reflective capacities of the mind 
come to their full fruition when they result in adequate motor 
activities. With respect to perception a good method will first 
prepare the mind for facts and will then present them so that 
they may be apperceived. The first two steps are therefore 
preparation and presentation. The first step, as Ziller pointed 
out, is essentially analytic in character, since it analyzes the 
present store of consciousness in order to bring facts to the 
front that are closely related to those of the present lesson; 
the second step, i.e., presentation, is essentially synthetic, since 
its function is to add the matter of the new lesson to related 
knowledge already in possession. Both together constitute the 
initial stages of apperception. 

Thought consists of two processes that may also be termed 
steps, and that are more or less observable in all good teach- 
ing; they are (i) the association of newly apperceived facts 
with one another and with older and more firmly established 
ideas in order that rational connection may be established in 
what one knows, and especially in order that what is general 
and essential in given facts may be grasped by the mind ; and 
(2) the condensation of knowledge into a system, such for 



THE CONDITIONS OF MANY-SIDEDNESS 59 

instance as we see in the classifications of botany and zool- 
ogy, or in the interdependence of principles as in arithmetic. 
Thought, in brief, involves the association of ideas and the 
derivation of generalizations such as are appropriate to the 
matter in hand and to the thought power of the pupils. 

The third stage, that of application, is not subdivided. Most 
other followers of Herbart, both German and American, though 
varying in methods of approach, conform essentially to the re- 
sults of this analysis, distinguishing five steps, as follows : — 

1. Preparation — Analysis 1 . r 

r J \ Apperception of percepts. 

2. Presentation — Synthesis J 

3. Association Thought. The derivation and arrange- 

4. Systemization J ment of rule, principle, or class. 

5. Application. From knowing to doing : use of motor powers. 

The reader is referred to the following-named works for ex- 
tended discussion of this topic : McMurray, " General Method " ; 
DeGarmo, "Essentials of Method"; Lange, "Apperception," 
pp. 200-245 ; Rein (Van Liew's translation), "Outlines of Peda- 
gogy " ; Herbart (Felkins' translation), " Science of Education " ; 
McMurray, C. A. & F. M., " The Method of the Recitation." A 
comparative view of the treatment of the Steps of Instruction 
by various authors is found in Van Liew's translation of Rein's 
"Outlines of Pedagogy," p. 145. 



CHAPTER IV 

The Conditions Determining Interest 

71. (Interest means self-activity. The demand for 
a many-sided interest is, therefore, a demand for many- 
sided self-activity. But not all self-activity, only the 
right degree of the right kind, is desirable ; else lively 
children might very well be left to themselves. There 
would be no need of educating or even of governing 
them. \ It is the purpose of instruction to give the 
right direction to their thoughts and impulses, to in- 
cline these toward the morally good and true. Chil- 
dren are thus in a measure passive. But this passivity 
should by no means involve suppression of self-activity. 
It should, on the contrary, imply a stimulation of all 
that is best in the child. 

At this point a psychological distinction becomes 
necessary, namely, that between designedly repro- 
duced, or "given," and spontaneous representations. 
In recitations of what has been learned we have an 
example of the former ; the latter appear in the games 
and fancies of children. A method of study that 
issues in mere reproduction leaves children largely in 
a passive state, for it crowds out for the time being 

60 



THE CONDITIONS DETERMINING INTEREST 6l 

the thoughts they would otherwise have had. In 
games, however, and in the free play of fancy, and 
accordingly also in that kind of instruction which 
finds an echo here, free activity predominates. 

This distinction is not intended to affirm the exist- 
ence of two compartments in which the ideas, sepa- 
rated once for all, would, of necessity, have to remain. 
Ideas that must by effort be raised into consciousness 
because they do not rise spontaneously, may become 
spontaneous by gradual strengthening. But this de- 
velopment we cannot count on unless instruction, 
advancing step by step, bring it about. 

Interest must be conceived as self-propulsive activity toward 
an end. It is a part of the teacher's function to assist the 
pupil in making the appropriate ideas strong and spontaneous. 
Occasionally a mere suggestion will change the whole mental 
attitude toward an end and the means for reaching it. A stu- 
dent one day approached his instructor with this query : " How 
can I get through this study with the least expenditure of time 
and effort?" The desired answer was first given. The in- 
structor then remarked that there was another way of viewing 
the matter, viz., that one might consider how to get the most 
rather than the least out of the study. He then briefly unfolded 
its nature and possibilities, whereupon the student became one 
of the most interested members of the class. He had come 
with only an indirect interest in the subject as an end ; he re- 
garded the study as a required task and the means of passing 
upon it as so much drudgery ; but he so changed his attitude 
toward it, that the study became an end personally desired, and 
the daily effort a pleasurable exercise of his self-directed power 



62 INSTRUCTION 

of thought. The interest that the instructor had aroused in 
the end was transferred to the means. 

/ 72. It is the teacher's business, while giving instruc- 
/ tion, to observe whether the ideas of his pupils rise 
spontaneously or not. If they do, the pupils are said 
to be attentive ; the lesson has won their interest. 
If not, attention is, indeed, not always wholly gone. 
It may, moreover, be enforced for a time before actual 
fatigue sets in. But doubt arises whether instruction 
can effect a future interest in the same subjects. 
/ Attention is a factor of such importance to educa- 
/ tion as to call for a more detailed treatment. 

J$. Attention may be broadly defined as an atti- 
tude of mind in which there, is readiness to form new 
ideas. Such readiness is either voluntary or involun- 
tary. If voluntary, it depends on a resolution ; the 
teacher frequently secures this through admonitions or 
threats. Far more desirable and fruitful is involuntary 
attention. It is this attention that the art of teaching 
must seek to induce. Herein lies the kind of interest 
to be sought by the teacher. 

/Forced and spontaneous are more truly expressive terms 
than voluntary and involuntary in this connection. It is not 
meant that interested activity is against the will, or even indif- 
ferent to it. On the contrary, it is a form of activity that calls 
every resource of the mind into full play. The will is never 
so promptly active as when it is doing the things in which it 
is most interested ; it is, however, a spontaneous, not a forced 
activity. 



THE CONDITIONS DETERMINING INTEREST 63 

There is, as Dr. John Dewey points out, 1 a contradiction 
between Herbart's Pedagogy and his Psychology, as follows : 
the Pedagogy regards interest as the lever of education, the 
means for securing spontaneous activity of mind ; the Psychol- 
ogy regards interest as a feeling arising from the relation of 
ideas. Ideas must therefore be given, in right relations, to 
arouse interest, while interest is in turn conceived as the means 
of arousing them. This is reasoning in a circle. The diffi- 
culty arises from asserting the primacy of ideas in mental life, 
and then speaking of self-activity, which presupposes the pri- 
macy of motor, or impulsive activities. The reader will avoid 
all contradictions in' educational theory by accepting the 
modern view of the primacy, not of ideas, but of what may 
broadly be termed will. The latter view is in accord with 
biological and historical science. Ideas are a later production 
of mind ; they serve to define more clearly the ends for which 
we work, at the same time giving us insight into the best 
means of attaining them. For an interesting discussion of the 
primacy of the will, the reader is referred to Professor Paulsen's 
"Introduction to Philosophy," pp. in-122. 2 

74. Involuntary [spontaneous] attention is subdi- 
vided into primitive and apperceiving. The latter 
especially is of the greatest importance in teaching, 
but it rests on the former, the conditions of which 
must constantly be taken into account. 

Apperception, or assimilation, takes place through 
the reproduction of previously acquired ideas and their 

1 " Interest as Related to Will," pp. 237-241, Second Supplement to First 
Herbart Year Book. 

2 Henry Holt & Co., New York, 1895. 



64 INSTRUCTION 

union with the new element, the most energetic ap- 
perception, although not necessarily the best, being 
effected by the ideas rising spontaneously. This topic 
will be treated more fully below {yy). Here it suffices 
to say that the apperceiving attention obviously pre- 
supposes the primitive attention ; otherwise apperceiv- 
ing ideas would never have been formed. 

The psychological and educational importance of the idea 
of apperception, or the assimilation of knowledge, has been 
much emphasized in recent years. For a psychological inter- 
pretation of the theory, the reader is referred to Wundt's 
"Human and Animal Psychology," 1 pp. 235-251. The educa- 
tional significance of the doctrine has been well brought out 
by Dr. Karl Lange, in his able monograph on " Appercep- 
tion." 2 The subject has been more popularly treated in Dr. 
McMurray's "General Method," 3 and in the writer's "Essen- 
tials of Method " 4 ; also in a number of other works. 

75. The primitive or original attention depends pri- 
marily on the strength of the sense-impression. Bright 
colors and loud speaking are more easily noticed than 
dark colors and low tones. It would be an error, how- 
ever, to infer that the strongest sense-perceptions are 
at the same time the most adequate. These quickly 
blunt the receptivity, while weak sense-impressions may, 
in the course of time, engender ideation as energetic as 

1 New York, Macmillan & Co., 1894. 

2 Boston, D. C. Heath & Co., 1894. 

8 Bloomington, 111., Public School Pub. Co., 1894. 
* Boston, D. C. Heath & Co., 1893. 



THE CONDITIONS DETERMINING INTEREST 6$ 

that produced by originally obtrusive perceptions. For 
this reason, a middle course must be chosen from the 
first. For children, however, the direct sense-percep- 
tion, even of a picture, if the object itself is not to be 
had, is altogether preferable to mere description. 

The presence in the minds of children of ideas — 
those supplied by instruction itself not excepted — con- 
trary to the new representations to be mastered, acts 
as a hindrance or check. This very fact explains why 
clearness of apprehension is not gained where instruc- 
tion piles up one thing upon another in too rapid 
succession. It is essential, therefore, in the case of 
beginners, so to single out each fact, to separate part 
from part, and to proceed step by step, that appre- 
hension may be rendered easy for them. 

A second hindrance to attention is of a more tem- 
porary character, but may nevertheless work much mis- 
chief. It makes a vast difference whether the ideas 
aroused are in a state of equilibrium or not. Long sen- 
tences in speech and in books are less easily appre- 
hended than short ones. They excite a movement of 
many albeit connected thoughts, which do not at once 
subside into their proper places. Now, just as in read- 
ing and writing pauses must be observed, which is done 
more easily in short than in long sentences, instruc- 
tion in general must have its chosen stopping-places 
and resting-points at which the child may tarry as 
long as may be necessary. Otherwise the accumulation 



66 INSTRUCTION 

of thoughts will become excessive, crowding in upon 
what follows, and this upon the next new element, 
until finally the pupils arrive at a state where they no 
longer hear anything. 
/ j6. The four essentials then for primitive attention 

/ r — " 

' are : strength of sense-impression, economy of recep- 
tivity, avoidance of harmful antitheses to existing ideas, 
and delay until the aroused ideas have recovered their 
equilibrium. But in actual teaching it will be found 
difficult to do justice to all of these requirements simul- 
taneously. Sameness of presentation should not be 
carried too far lest the child's receptivity be taxed too 
heavily. Monotony produces weariness. But a sud- 
den change of subject frequently discloses the fact that 
the new is too remote from what has preceded, and 
that the old thoughts refuse to give way. If the 
change is delayed too long the lesson drags. Too 
little variety causes ennui. The pupils begin to think 
of something else, and with that their attention is gone 
completely. 

The teacher should by all means study literary 
masterpieces for the purpose of learning from great 
authors how they escaped these difficulties. That he 
may strike the right chord in the earlier stages of 
instruction, he should turn particularly to simple popu- 
lar writers, Homer, for example, whose story-telling is, 
on the other hand, too general and naive for older 
pupils who have lost the power to put themselves 



THE CONDITIONS DETERMINING INTEREST 6? 

back into a past period of culture. Yet it is safe 
to say in general, that classic writers seldom take 
sudden leaps and never stand still entirely. Their 
method of unfolding consists in a scarcely perceptible, 
at any rate an always easy, advance. They dwell, 
indeed, long on the same thought, but nevertheless 
achieve, little by little, most powerful contrasts. Poor 
writers, on the contrary, pile up the most glaring 
antitheses without other than the natural result — the 
antagonistic ideas expel each other and the mind is 
left empty. The same result threatens the teacher 
who aims at brilliancy of presentation. 

yj. The apperceiving, or assimilating, attention (74), 
though not the first in time, is yet observed very early. 
It shows itself when little children catch and repeat 
aloud single, familiar words of an otherwise unintel- 
ligible conversation between adults ; when a little later 
they name, in their own way, the well-known objects 
that they come upon in their picture-books ; when 
later still, while learning to read, they pick out from 
the book single names coinciding with their recollec- 
tion ; and so on in innumerable other instances. From 
within ideas are suddenly bursting forth to unite with 
whatever similar elements present themselves. Now 
this apperceiving activity must be exercised constantly 
in all instruction. For instruction is given in words 
only ; the ideas constituting their meaning must be 
supplied by the hearer. But words are not meant to 



68 INSTRUCTION 

be understood merely ; they are intended to elicit in- 
terest. And this requires a higher grade and greater 
facility of apperception. 

Universally popular poems do not produce their pleas- 
ing effect by teaching something new. They portray 
what is already known and utter what every one feels. 
Ideas already possessed are aroused, expanded, con- 
densed, and consequently put in order and strength- 
ened. On the other hand, when defects are apperceived, 
e.g., misprints, grammatical blunders, faulty drawings, 
false notes, etc., the successive unfolding of the series 
of ideas is interrupted so that their interlacing cannot 
take place properly. Here we see how instruction must 
proceed and what it must avoid in order to secure in- 
terest. 

Note. — The apperceiving attention is of so great importance 
in instruction that a word or two more will be in place. The 
highest stage of this kind of attention is indicated by the words — 
gaze, scrutinize, listen, handle. The idea of the examined object 
is already present in consciousness, as is likewise the idea of the 
class of sense-perceptions looked for. The psychic result turns 
on the ensuing sense-impressions, on their contrasts, combinations, 
and reproductions. These are able to induce the corresponding 
mental states unhindered, because disturbing foreign elements have 
already been removed and remain excluded. Passing from this 
highest grade to lower degrees of attention, we find that the idea 
of the object is not yet — at least not prominently — present, that 
this itself first needs to be reproduced and made more vivid. The 
question arises whether this can be accomplished directly or only 
indirectly. In the former case the idea must be in itself strong 
enough ; in the second it must be sufficiently united with other 



THE CONDITIONS DETERMINING INTEREST 69 

ideas which it is possible to arouse directly. Moreover, the ob- 
stacles to reproduction must be such that they can be overcome. 

When the apperceiving attention is once under way, it should 
be utilized and not disturbed. The teaching must take the prom- 
ised direction until it has satisfied expectation. The solutions must 
correspond clearly to the problems. Everything must be connected. 
The attention is disturbed by untimely pauses and the presence of 
extraneous matter. It is also disturbed by apperceptions that bring 
into light that which should remain in shadow. This is true of 
words and phrases too often repeated, of mannerisms of speech — 
of everything that gives prominence to the language at the expense 
of the subject-matter, even rhymes, verse-forms, and rhetorical adorn- 
ment when used in the wrong place. 

But that which is too simple must be avoided also. In this case 
the apperception is soon completed ; it does not give enough to 
do. The fullest unit possible is to be sought. 

A rule of vital importance is that, before setting his pupils at 
work, the teacher should take them into the field of ideas wherein their 
work is to be done. He can accomplish this at the beginning of 
a recitation hour by means of a brief outline view of the ground 
to be covered in the lesson or lecture. 

78. Instruction is to supplement that which has 
been gained already by experience and by intercourse 
with others (36) ; these foundations must exist when 
instruction begins. If they are wanting, they must 
be firmly established first. Any deficiency here means 
a loss to instruction, because the pupils lack the 
thoughts which they need in order to interpret the 
words of the teacher. 

In the same way, knowledge derived from earlier 
lessons must be extended and deepened by subsequent 
instruction. This presupposes such an organization of 



70 INSTRUCTION 

the whole work of instruction that that which comes 
later shall always find present the earlier knowledge 
with which it is to be united. 

79. Ordinarily, because their eyes are fixed solely 
on the facts to be learned, teachers concern them- 
selves little with the ideas already possessed by the 
pupils. Consequently they make an effort in behalf 
of the necessary attention only when it is failing 
and progress is checked. Now they have recourse 
to voluntary attention (73), and to obtain this rely 
on inducements, or, more often, on reprimands and 
penalties. Indirect interest is thus substituted for 
direct interest, with the result that the resolution 
of the pupil to be attentive fails to effect energetic 
apprehension and realizes but little coherence. It 
wavers constantly, and often enough gives way to 
disgust. 

In the most favorable case, if instruction is thorough, 
i.e., scientific, a foundation of elementary knowledge 
is gradually laid sufficiently solid for later years to 
build on ; in other words, out of the elementary 
knowledge an apperceiving mass is created in the 
mind of the pupil which will aid him in his future 
studies. There may be several of such masses ; but 
each constitutes by itself its own kind of one-sided 
learning, and it is after all doubtful whether even 
here direct interest is implied. For there is small 
hope that this interest will be aroused in the youth 



THE CONDITIONS DETERMINING INTEREST /I 

when the years of boyhood have been devoted merely 
to the mastering of preliminary knowledge. The pros- 
pects of future station and calling are opening before 
him and the examinations are at hand. 

80. The fact should not be overlooked, however, 
that even the best method cannot secure an adequate 
degree of apperceiving attention (75-78) from every 
pupil ; recourse must accordingly be had to the vol- 
untary attention, i.e., the pupil's resolution. But for 
the necessary measures the teacher must depend, not 
merely on rewards and punishments, but chiefly on 
habit and custom. Instruction unites at this point 
with government and training. In all cases where the 
pupil begins his work not entirely without compulsion, 
it is particularly important that he should soon become 
aware of his own progress. The several steps must 
be distinctly and suitably pointed out to him ; they 
must at the same time be easy of execution and suc- 
ceed each other slowly. The instruction should be 
given with accuracy, even strictness, seriousness, and 
patience. 

81. The voluntary attention is most frequently de- 
manded for memorizing, for which, apart from all else, 
the presence of interest is not always a perfectly fa- 
vorable condition. This is true even of spontaneous 
interest, for the ideas that rise spontaneously have a 
movement of their own, which by deviating from the 
given sequence may lead to surreptitious substitutions. 



72 INSTRUCTION 

Like observation, intentional memorizing presupposes 
a certain amount of self-control. At this point a 
question arises as to the proper place of learning by 
heart. 

Committing to memory is very necessary ; use is 
made of it in every department of knowledge. But 
memorizing should never be the first thing except 
when it is done without effort. For if the memorizing 
of new matter, which the pupil cannot as yet have 
associated incorrectly, costs him an effort, it is plain 
that the single presentations encounter some opposi- 
tion or other by which they are repelled too quickly 
for their mutual association to take place. The teacher 
must in this case talk the subject over first, set the 
pupil to work upon it, make him more familiar with 
it, and must sometimes even wait for a more opportune 
moment. Where clearness in single perceptions and 
their association {6y et seq.) are still deficient, these 
must be attended to first of all. After the ideas have 
been strengthened in this way, memorizing will be 
accomplished more easily. 

The assigned series should not be too long. Three 
foreign words are often more than enough. Many 
pupils have to be shown how to memorize. Left to 
themselves they will begin over and over again, then 
halt, and try in vain to go on. A fundamental rule 
is that the starting-point be shifted. If, for example, 
the name Methuselah is to be learned, the teacher 



THE CONDITIONS DETERMINING INTEREST 73 

would, perhaps, say successively : lah, — selah, — thuse- 
lah, — Methuselah. 

Some have to be warned against trying to get 
through quickly. We have to do here with a physical 
mechanism which requires time and whose operation 
the pupil himself as little as the teacher should en- 
deavor to over-accelerate. Slow at first, then faster. 

It is not always advisable to put a stop to all bodily 
movements. Many memorize by way of speaking 
aloud, others through copying, some through draw- 
ing. Reciting in concert also may prove feasible at 
times. 

Incorrect associations are very much to be feared ; 
they are tenacious. A great deal, to be sure, may be 
accomplished through severity ; but when interest in 
the subject-matter is wholly lacking, the pupil begins 
by memorizing incorrectly, then ceases to memorize 
at all, and simply wastes time. 

The absolute failure of some pupils in memory work 
may perhaps be partly owing to unknown physical 
peculiarities. Very often, however, the cause of the 
evil lies in the state of false tension into which such 
pupils put themselves while attempting with reluctance 
what they regard as an almost impossible task. A 
teacher's injudicious attitude during the first period, 
his remarks, for instance, about learning by heart as a 
thing of toil and trouble, may lead to this state of mind, 
for which perhaps awkward first steps in learning to 



74 INSTRUCTION 

read have prepared the way. It is foolish to look for 
means of lightening still more the exercises of children 
that retain and recite with facility ; but, on the other 
hand, great caution is necessary because there are also 
others who may be rendered unfit for memorizing by 
the first attempt of the teacher to make them recite, 
or even only to repeat after him, a certain series of 
words. In attempting, by such early tests, to find out 
whether children retain and reproduce easily, it is 
essential that the teacher put them in good humor, 
that he select his matter with this end in view, and 
that he go on only so long as they feel they can do 
what is asked of them. The results of his observa- 
tions must determine the further mode of procedure. 

82. However carefully the process of memorizing 
may have been" performed, the question remains : How 
long will the memorized matter be retained ? On this 
point teachers deceive themselves time and again, in 
spite of universally common experiences. 

Now, in the first place, not everything that is 
learned by heart needs to be retained. Many an exer- 
cise serves its purpose when it prepares the way for 
the next, and renders further development possible. 
In this way a short poem is sometimes learned as a 
temporary means for an exercise in declamation ; or 
chapters from Latin authors are committed to memory 
in order to speed the writing and speaking of Latin. 
In many cases it is sufficient for later years if the 



THE CONDITIONS DETERMINING INTEREST ?$ 

pupil knows how to look for literary helps, and how 
to make use of them. 

But if, secondly, that which has been memorized is 
to remain impressed on the memory for a long time, 
forever if possible, it is only a questionable expedient 
to reassign the same thing as often as it is forgotten. 
The feeling of weary disgust may more than offset 
the possible gain. There is only one efficient method 
— practice; practice consisting in the constant appli- 
cation of that which is to be retained to that which 
actually interests the pupils, in other words, that which 
continually engages the ideas rising spontaneously. 

Here we find the principle that governs the choice 
of material for successful memorizing. And as to the 
amount — so much as is needed for the immediate fu- 
ture ; for excessive quantity promotes an early forget- 
ting. Besides, in instruction, as in experience, there 
is a great deal that may not be accurately remembered, 
but nevertheless renders abundant service by stimu- 
lating the mind and qualifying it for further work. 



CHAPTER V 

The Main Kinds of Interest 

83. Instruction is to be linked to the knowledge 
that experience provides, and to the ethical senti- 
ments that arise from social intercourse (36). Empiri- 
cal interest relates directly to experience ; sympathetic 
interest to human association. Discursive reflection 
on the objects of experience involves the development 
of speculative interest, reflection on the wider rela- 
tions of society that of social interest. With these we 
group, on the one hand aesthetic, on the other religious 
interest, both of which have their origin not so much 
in discursive thought as in a non-progressing contem- 
plation of things and of human destiny. 

The classification of interests into two groups, namely, 

(a) those which arise from knowledge, and (b) those which arise 
from association with others, and the subdivision of each of these 
into three groups, making six in all, is one not of necessity, but 
of convenience. The knowledge interests are, (a) empirical, 

(b) speculative, (c) aesthetic ; the interests arising from asso- 
ciation are, (a) sympathetic, (b) social, (c) religious. This 
classification is adopted without criticism by most Herbartian 
writers. That the classification is made simply for convenience 
may be seen from such considerations as the following : — 

76 



THE MAIN KINDS OF INTEREST 77 

1. Strictly speaking, all interests arise from experience, the 
social no less than the speculative ; hence experience is not a 
basis for classification at all. 

2. ^Esthetic interests, resting upon contemplation, need 
not be put into a group with those that rest upon the percep- 
tion of cause and effect, or other relations perceived by dis- 
cursive reflection. 

3. The same is true for those empirical interests that are 
supposed to rest upon immediate sense apprehension, such as 
the interest in color, shape, sound, taste, odor. 

4. If perception, reasoning, and sensibility are made bases 
for the classification of interests, why should not the active 
volitional powers of the mind become a basis likewise ? Some 
claim that pleasure and pain rest primarily upon the motor 
side of our activity, rather than upon the sensory. Our inter- 
est in doing is antecedent to our interest in knowing or feeling. 
This fact is fully recognized by all Herbartians in the theory 
of methods, though it finds no recognition in their classifica- 
tion of interests. 

It must be granted, however, that Herbart's classification is 
convenient, even if not especially scientific. 

The empirical interest is the mental eagerness aroused by 
direct appeal to the senses, as by novel shapes, colors, sounds, 
odors, and the like. Its first stage is wonder, admiration, fear, 
awe. The child that drops his picture-book to chase a butter- 
fly abandons one empirical interest for a stronger one. This 
form of interest is usually transient ; unless it develops into 
a new kind of interest, it is soon abandoned for some other 
attraction. A primary teacher may catch but cannot hold the 
attention of a child by sensuous devices leading to nothing 
beyond themselves. 

The speculative interest is more permanent than the empiri- 



78 INSTRUCTION 

cal. It rests primarily on the perception of the relations of 
cause and effect ; it seeks to know the reasons of things. On 
this account it is a higher form of apperception, or mental 
assimilation. The most fundamental idea in the speculative 
interest is that of purpose. We want to know the purpose of 
things, the function they are to perform, the end they are ex- 
pected to reach. Thus a child has a key to the understanding 
of even so complicated a machine as a self-binder, or a printing 
press, provided he sees clearly the purpose of each. Until 
this is perceived the facts are an unintelligible jumble of par- 
ticulars. A crude form of the speculative interest is seen very 
early in the child, when he demands a reason for everything. 
It always remains the mainspring of intellectual life ; when it 
ceases to be a motive power to thinking, thought is dead. 

The sesthetic interest rests upon the enjoyment of contem- 
plation, when an ideal, sometimes distinct, sometimes vague, 
can be perceived through a sense medium. In the Greek 
statue of Apollo Belvidere, a divinity is represented in marble. 
In the painting, Breaking Home Ties, the feelings of a lad and 
his mother upon parting are portrayed upon canvas. In music 
the ideal is usually vague, in poetry it is clear and distinct. 
The sesthetic value of the latter is enhanced by good oral 
recitation, both because appeal is made to an additional sense, 
and because the ears of men were attuned to beautiful poetry 
long before the eye learned to apprehend it. 

All of these interests, the empirical, the speculative, and the 
sesthetic, may be classed as individual, since they rest upon 
purely subjective grounds. They might belong to any Robin- 
son Crusoe who became isolated from his fellows. But the 
remaining groups, the sympathetic, the social, and the religious, 
Test upon the idea of intercourse with others. They are, 
therefore, of supreme importance for civilized life. Without 



THE MAIN KINDS OF INTEREST 79 

the sympathetic cooperation of men civilization would become 
impossible. Mephistopheles in " Faust " defines himself as " the 
Spirit that ever denies." 1 Consequently any man who be- 
comes so absorbed in his individual concerns as to deny all 
social duties and renounce all social benefits becomes thereby 
a kind of civic devil. The cynics of old repudiated all social 
obligations, thus making themselves bitter civic devils, while 
the Cyrenaics, choosing self-indulgence, but denying likewise 
social duties, transformed themselves into sensualistic civic 
devils. 

It is an imperative duty of the teacher, therefore, to arouse 
the social and civic interests of the children, since upon these 
as active forces the welfare and possibly the stability of society 
rest. 

The school is the place, the studies and daily intercourse 
the means, whereby this class of interests may be aroused. 
Pupils brought up in isolation by private tutors are likely to 
become non-social in their disposition. Idiosyncrasies are 
fostered, there being little or no development of ideals of 
social cooperation. The kindergarten, however, when rightly 
conducted, is nearly always able to foster the social instincts so 
powerfully that even the lack of later education is not able to 
obliterate them. When this training is reinforced by the well- 
governed school, a solid foundation for civic character is likely 
to be laid. The studies most important for the fostering of 
social and civic interests are literature, history, civil govern- 
ment, and geography, though others have a more or less 
intimate relation to them. 

84. We cannot expect to see all of these interests 
unfold equally in every individual ; but among a num- 
" : Ich bin der Geist der stets verneint." 



80 INSTRUCTION 

ber of pupils we may confidently look for them all. 
The demand for many-sidedness will accordingly be 
satisfied the better, the nearer the single individual 
likewise approaches a state of mental culture in which 
all these kinds of interest are active with equal energy. 
85. As has already been suggested (37), these six 
kinds of interest arise from two sources to which 
historical and nature studies respectively correspond, 
With this the facts observed in classical high schools 
{Gymnasia) coincide : pupils usually lean toward one 
side or the other. It would be a serious blunder, 
however, to affirm, on this account, an antithesis be- 
tween the historical and the natural science interest ; 
or, worse still, to speak of a philological and a mathe- 
matical interest instead — as is, indeed, not infrequently 
done. Such confusion in ideas should not continue; 
it would lead to utterly erroneous views of the whole 
management of instruction. The easiest means to 
counteract the evil is a consideration of the multitude 
of one-sided tendencies that occur even within the six 
kinds of interest ; we shall be able, at all events, to 
bring out still more clearly the manifold phases of 
interest that must be taken into account. For the 
possible cases of one-sidedness are differentiated far 
more minutely than could be shown by the discrimina- 
tion of only six kinds of interest. 

"Is the ideal education classical or scientific?" This 
question, which is still debated, really means, shall we culti- 



THE MAIN KINDS OF INTEREST 8 1 

vate chiefly the social ox the knowledge interests. The histori- 
cal, or culture, studies belong preeminently on the one side, the 
natural sciences most largely on the other. Herbert Spencer 
in i860 made a special plea for science studies in his mono- 
graph, " Education," claiming that such studies are of chief 
worth both for knowledge and training. At that time classical, 
or culture, studies had possession of almost every institution for 
higher education, so that Spencer's special plea was justified. 
At present, however, science, which has developed its own 
methods of instruction, holds an equal place with social studies 
in the colleges and universities. When we are asked which 
half of human interests we will choose, the knowledge or the 
social, our reply can only be : We will abandon neither, but 
choose both. Both are essential to human happiness ; both 
are necessary for social and material advance. 

86. Empirical interest becomes one-sided in its way 
when it seizes upon one kind of objects of experience 
to the neglect of the rest. When, for instance, a per- 
son wants to be a botanist exclusively, a mineralogist, 
a zoologist ; or when he likes languages only, perhaps 
only the ancient or only the modern, or of all these 
only one ; or when as a traveller he wishes to see, 
like many so-called tourists, only the countries that 
everybody talks about, in order to have seen them too ; 
or when, as a collector of curiosities, he confines him- 
self to one or the other fancy ; or when, in the capac- 
ity of historian, he cares only about the information 
bearing on one country, or one period, etc. 

Speculative interest becomes one-sided by confining 



82 INSTRUCTION 

itself to logic or to mathematics, mathematics perhaps 
only as treated by the old geometricians ; or to meta- 
physics restricted possibly to one system ; or to physics 
narrowed down perhaps to one hypothesis ; or to prag- 
matic history. 

Esthetic interest in one case is concentrated exclu- 
sively on painting and sculpture ; in another on poetry, 
perhaps only on lyric or dramatic poetry ; in still 
another on music, or perhaps only on a certain species 
of music, etc. 

Sympathetic interest is one-sided when a man is 
willing to live only with his social peers, or only with 
fellow-countrymen, or only with members of his own 
family ; while a fellow-feeling for all others is wanting. 

Social interest grows one-sided if one gives himself 
up wholly to one political party, and measures weal or 
woe only by party success or failure. 

Religious interest becomes one-sided according to 
differences of creed and sect, to one of which allegiance 
is given, while those who hold a different view are 
regarded as unworthy of esteem. 

Much of this one-sidedness is brought about in later 
life by one's vocation. But a man's vocation must not 
isolate him. Yet this would happen if such narrowness 
should make headway in youth. 

87. A still more detailed analysis of the varieties of 
one-sidedness would be possible ; it is not needed, 
however, for ascertaining the position of the above- 



THE MAIN KINDS OF INTEREST 83 

mentioned high school studies among the subjects of 
instruction calculated to stimulate interest. Languages, 
to begin with, form a part of the curriculum ; but why 
among so many languages is the preference given to 
Latin and Greek ? Obviously because of the literature 
and history opened through them. Literature with its 
poets and orators falls under aesthetic interest ; history 
awakens sympathy with distinguished men and the weal 
and woe of society, indirectly contributing in either 
case even to religious interest. No better focus for so 
many different stimuli can be found. Even speculative 
interest is not slighted if inquiries into the grammatical 
structure of these languages are added. Moreover, 
the study of history does not stop with the ancients ; 
the knowledge of literature also is widened that the 
various interests may be developed still more com- 
pletely. History, if taught pragmatically, assists spec- 
ulative interest from another direction. In this respect, 
however, mathematics has precedence ; only, in order 
to effect a sure entrance and abiding results, it must 
unite with the natural sciences, which appeal at once to 
the empirical and the speculative interest. 

If now these studies cooperate properly, a great deal 
will be done, in conjunction with religious instruction, 
toward turning the youthful mind in the directions 
that answer to a many-sided interest. But if, on the 
contrary, the languages and mathematics were allowed 
to fall apart, if the connecting links were removed, 



84 INSTRUCTION 

and every pupil were permitted to choose one or the 
other branch of study, according to his preferences, 
mere bald one-sidedness of the kind sufficiently char- 
acterized above would be the outcome. 

88. It is admitted now that not only classical but 
also public high schools in general should provide for 
this same many-sided culture, that is, should take 
account of the same main classes of interests. The 
only difference lies in the fact that for the pupils of 
the classical high schools the practice of a vocation 
is not so near at hand ; whereas, in the public high 
schools, there is a certain preponderance of modern 
literature and history, together with inability to equip 
completely with the helps to a manifold mental activity 
those who purpose to go on. Much the same is true of 
all the lower schools whose aim is to educate. It is 
different with trade schools and polytechnic institutes ; 
in short, with those schools which presuppose a com- 
pleted education — completed to the extent permitted 
by circumstances. 

If, then, the programme of a public high school is 
of the right sort, it will show as well as the curriculum 
of a classical preparatory school does, that an attempt 
is being made to guard against such one-sidedness as 
would be the outcome if one of the six main classes 
of interest were slighted. 

How one-sidedness under an elective system may be 
avoided is discussed in a previous section (65). 



THE MAIN KINDS OF INTEREST 85 

89. But no instruction is able to prevent the special 
varieties of one-sideciness that may develop within the 
limits of each main group. When observation, reflec- 
tion, the sense of beauty, sympathy, public spirit, 
and religious aspiration have once been awakened, 
although perhaps only within a small range of objects, 
the farther extension over a greater number and vari- 
ety of objects must be left largely to the individual 
and to opportunity. To pupils of talent, above all of 
genius, instruction may give the necessary outlook 
by enabling them to see what talent and genius 
achieve elsewhere ; but their own distinguishing traits 
they must themselves answer for and retain. 

Moreover, the above-mentioned forms of one-sided- 
ness are not all equally detrimental, because they do 
not assert themselves with the same degree of exclu- 
siveness. Each may, indeed, lead to self-conceit ; but 
this tendency does not attach to all in the same 
measure. 

Holding to the idea of many-sided interest, what justification 
is there for elective studies? To this, the reply must be made 
that in elementary and in a part of secondary education the 
principle of indiscriminate election must be rejected. The only 
rational election in secondary education, as already explained 
(65), is election among the various members of a group of 
similar studies. In this way the destination and ability of the 
pupil may be regarded, without sacrificing the needed many- 
sidedness. The case is different in higher education, however, for 
election and many-sidedness are here quite reconcilable. Higher 



86 INSTRUCTION 

education is the comparative study of a few branches. Thus, 
for example, on the social side, the whole civilization of Greece 
is focussed now in her political history, now in her art, now 
in her language, now in her education, now in her philosophy. 
The student who studies any one of these subjects thoroughly 
gets a comparative view of the whole of Greek life. It is not 
necessary for him to study them all. The same is true of each 
important country or epoch. Every culture study is an emi- 
nence from which the whole is seen. 

Likewise in science, to study a typical form of life exhaus- 
tively by the comparative method gives one an insight into all 
related life, as well as many glimpses into physical and chemi- 
cal science. In a large sense, therefore, we study all nature, 
whether we elect biology, physics, or chemistry, provided we 
use the comparative method of higher education. In the col- 
lege or university, therefore, a large amount of election is 
justifiable. That would be a one-sided course which neglected 
entirely all social" or all science studies. 

90. Under favorable circumstances of time and 
opportunity, such as obtain in classical and other 
high schools, effort, as we know, is not restricted to 
the initial stimulation. Hence the question arises : 
In what sequence shall the aroused interests be fur- 
ther developed ? Of instruction-material there is no 
lack ; we must select and arrange, guided in the main 
by what was said on the conditions of many-sidedness 
and of interest. Thus to recapitulate : there must be 
progress from the simple to the more complex, and 
solicitous endeavor to make spontaneous interest pos- 
sible. But in applying these principles we must not 



THE MAIN KINDS OF INTEREST 2>y 

shut our eyes to the particular requirements and the 
difficulties in our way. 

91. The empirical material of languages, history, 
geography, etc., calls for specific complications and 
series of ideas, together with the network of their 
interrelations. As to language, even words are com- 
plex wholes, made up of stems plus whatever elements 
enter into inflection and derivation, and further resolv- 
able into single speech sounds. History has its time- 
series, geography its- network of spatial relations. The 
psychological laws of reproduction determine the pro- 
cesses of memorizing and of retaining. 

The mother-tongue serves as a medium through 
which foreign languages become intelligible, but at 
the same time offers resistance to the foreign sounds 
and constructions. Furthermore, it takes a young boy 
a long time to get familiar with the thought that far 
away in time and in space there have been and are 
human beings who spoke and speak languages other 
than his own, and about whom he need concern himself 
at all. Teachers, moreover, very commonly proceed 
on the fallacious and very mischievous assumption 
that, because their mode of expression is clear, it will, 
of course, be understood by the pupil. The resources 
of child-language increase but slowly. Such impedi- 
ments as these must be removed. Geography ex- 
tends the knowledge of spatial distances, but the 
inhabitant of a flat country lacks the sense-images of 



88 INSTRUCTION 

mountain ranges ; one who grows up in a valley is 
without the sense-perception of a plain ; the majority 
of pupils lack the concrete idea of an ocean. That 
the earth is a sphere revolving about its own axis 
and about the sun, for a long time sounds to children 
more like a fairy-tale than like a statement of fact ; 
and even educated young men sometimes hesitate to 
accept the theory of the planetary system because 
they are unable to comprehend how it is possible to 
know such things. Difficulties of this kind must be 
met and not massed together unnecessarily. — For 
history, old ruins might serve as starting-points if 
only the material they furnish do not prove altogether 
too scanty and is not too recent, when the object is 
to take pupils at an early age into the times and 
places of Jewish, Greek, and Roman antiquity. Here 
the only satisfactory helps are stories that excite a 
very lively interest ; these establish points of support 
for the realization in thought of a time long vanished. 
There is still lacking, however, a correct estimate of 
chronological distances down to our own time. This 
is attained only very gradually through the insertion 
of intermediate data. 

92. Material for the exercise of reflection, and so 
for the excitation of speculative interest, is supplied 
by whatever in nature, in human affairs, in the struc- 
ture of languages, and in religion, permits us to dis- 
cover, or even merely to surmise, a connection 



THE MAIN KINDS OF INTEREST 89 

according to general laws. But everywhere — the 
most common school studies, such as elementary arith- 
metic and grammar not excepted — the pupil encounters 
concepts, judgments, and inferences. But he clings to 
the particular, to the familiar, to the sensuous. The 
abstract is foreign to his mind ; even the geometrical 
figures traced for the eye are to him particular things 
whose general significance he finds it hard to grasp. 
The general is to displace individual peculiarities in 
his thoughts ; but in his habitual thought-series the 
well-known concrete crowds to the front. Of the gen- 
eral there remains in his mind almost nothing beyond 
the words used to designate it. Called upon to draw 
an inference, he loses one premise while pondering 
the next ; the teacher is obliged to go back to the 
beginning again and again, to give examples, and from 
them lead up to generalizations ; to separate and to 
connect concepts, and by degrees to bring the propo- 
sitions closer to one another. When the middle terms 
and extremes have been successfully fused in the 
premises, they are still only loosely connected at first. 
The same propositions are repeatedly forgotten, and 
yet must not be reviewed too many times for fear of 
killing instead of quickening interest. 

Since forgetting cannot be prevented, it is wise to 
abandon for a time a large portion of that into which 
pupils have gained an insight, but later on to go back 
to the essentials by other paths. The first preliminary 



90 INSTRUCTION 

exercises serve their purpose if the particulars are 
made to reveal the general before generalizations be- 
come the material for technical propositions, and before 
propositions are combined into inference-series. The 
processes of association (69) must not be omitted 
between the first pointing out of common features and 
the systematic teaching of their rational connections. 
93. Esthetic contemplation may, indeed, receive its 
impulse from many interests other than the aesthetic, 
as also from aroused emotions. Art itself, however, is 
possible only in a state of mind sufficiently tranquil to 
permit an accurate and coherent apprehension of the 
simultaneously beautiful, and to experience the mental 
activity corresponding to the successively beautiful. 
./Esthetic objects adapted to the pupil's power of appre- 
ciation must be provided; but the teacher should refrain 
from forcing contemplation. He may, of course, repress 
unseemly manifestations, above all the damaging of 
objects possessing aesthetic value and entitled to re- 
spectful treatment. Frequently imitative attempts — 
although very crude at first- — in drawing, singing, 
reading aloud, and, at a later period, in translating, 
are indications of aesthetic attention. Such efforts 
may be encouraged, but should not be praised. The 
genuine warmth of emotion, which in aesthetic culture 
kindles of itself, is easily vitiated by intensifying 
artifices. Excess of quantity is injurious. Works of 
art appealing to a higher state of culture must not be 



THE MAIN KINDS OF INTEREST 91 

brought down to a lower plane. Art judgments and 
criticisms should not be obtruded. 

94. The sympathetic interests depend still more 
on social intercourse and family life than the foregoing 
classes of interests do on experience in the world of 
sense. If the social environment changes frequently, 
children cannot become deeply attached anywhere. The 
mere change of teachers and of schools is fraught with 
harm. Pupils make comparisons in their own way ; 
authority that is not permanent has little weight with 
them, whereas the impulse to throw off restraint gains 
in strength. Instruction is powerless to obviate such 
evils, especially since instruction itself must often 
change its form, thereby giving the impression of a 
real difference in teachers. This fact makes it all 
the more necessary that the instruction in history 
impart to pupils the glow of sympathy due to his- 
torical characters and events. For this reason — a 
reason of momentous significance to the whole process 
of education — history should not be made to present 
to pupils the appearance of a chronological skeleton. 
This rule should be observed with special care during 
the earlier lessons in history, since on these depends 
largely what sort of impression the whole subject will 
produce at a future time. 

Of religious instruction, needless to say, we demand 
that it shall bring home to pupils the dependent con- 
dition of man, and we confidently expect that it will 



92 INSTRUCTION 

not leave their hearts cold. But historical instruction 
must cooperate with religious instruction, otherwise the 
truths of religion stand isolated, and there is ground for 
fearing that they will fail to enter as potent factors into 
the teaching and learning of the remaining subjects. 



CHAPTER VI 

The Material of Instruction from Different 
Points of View 

95. Differences in point of view give rise to con- 
flicting opinions concerning not only the treatment, 
but also the choice of subject-matter for instruction. 
If, now, first one opinion then another wins predomi- 
nance over the rest, the harmony of the purposes un- 
derlying both learning and teaching is wanting. Not 
only that, but the pupils suffer also directly through the 
lack of consistency where work is begun on one plan 
and continued on another. 

96. The teacher in charge of a given branch of 
study only too often lays out his work without taking 
account of pedagogical considerations. His specialty, 
he thinks, suffices to suggest a plan ; the successive 
steps in its organized content will, of course, be the 
proper sequence for instruction to follow. In teach- 
ing a language, he insists that pupils must master 
declensions and conjunctions in order that he may 
read an author with them later. He expects them to 
understand ordinary prose before he passes on to eluci- 
date the finished style of a poet, etc. In mathematics, 

93 



94 INSTRUCTION 

he demands that pupils bring to the subject perfect 
facility in common arithmetic ; at a more advanced 
stage they must be able to handle logarithms with 
ease before formulae requiring their use are reached, 
etc. In history, the first thing for him to do is to 
erect a solid chronological framework to hold the his- 
torical facts to be inserted afterward. For ancient 
history, he presupposes a knowledge of ancient geog- 
raphy, etc. This same view which derives the prin- 
ciple determining the sequence of studies from the 
instruction-material itself, as though it had been un- 
conditionally and finally settled that such and such 
things must be taught, asserts itself on a larger scale 
in requirements for admission to higher grades or 
schools. Children are to be able to read, write, and 
cipher well before being allowed to enter the grammar 
school ; promotions to higher grades are to take place 
only when the goal set for the grade immediately 
preceding has been reached. The good pupil, accord- 
ingly, is one who fits into and willingly submits to these 
arrangements. The natural consequence of all this is, 
that little heed is paid to the condition of attention, 
namely, the gradual progress of interest. 

97. But still another consequence ensues, occasion- 
ing a different point of view. Pupils are commiserated 
on the ground that they are overburdened. All sorts 
of doubts spring up as to the wisdom of teaching the 
branches causing the trouble. Their future utility is 



THE MATERIAL OF INSTRUCTION 95 

called in question. A host of instances is adduced of 
adults neglecting and forgetting — forgetting without 
appreciable loss — that which it cost them so much 
toil to learn. Of course, examples showing the oppo- 
site to be true may also be cited, but that does not 
settle the question. It cannot be denied that there 
are many, even among the educated, who aspire to 
nothing higher than freedom from care by means of 
a lucrative calling, or a life of social enjoyment, and 
who, accordingly, estimate the value of their knowl- 
edge by this standard. Such a state of things is not 
mended by a kind of instruction that awakens little 
interest, and that in after years constitutes the dark 
side of reminiscences connected with early youth. 

98. What is urged in reply is, generally speaking, 
true : youth must be kept busy ; we cannot let chil- 
dren grow up wild. And their occupation has to be 
serious and severe, for government (45-55) must not 
be weak. But now, more than ever, doubt fastens on 
the choice of studies. Might not more useful things 
be offered for employment ? 

If, by way of rejoinder, the ancient languages are 
commended as being preeminently suited to give pupils 
diversity of work, this fact is accounted for by the 
faulty methods pursued in teaching the other subjects. 
With the proper method the same many-sided activity 
would be called forth. For the modern languages 
especially, the claim is made that they, too, are Ian- 



g6 INSTRUCTION 

guage studies involving reading, writing, translating, 
and training in the forms of thought. To this argu- 
ment the unfortunate answer should not be returned, 
that the classical high schools must retain their Latin 
and Greek because they are educating future officials 
to whom the ancient languages are just as useful, 
nay, indispensable, as the modern languages to other 
classes. For, if the classical studies have once been 
degraded to the level of the useful and necessary, the 
door is thrown open to those who go a step farther 
still and demand to know of what use Hebrew is to 
the country parson, and Greek to the practising 
jurist or physician. 

99. Controversies like these have often been con- 
ducted as if the humaniora or humanistic studies were 
radically opposed to the realia and could not admit 
them to partnership. In reality, the latter are at least 
as much a legitimate part of a complete education as 
the former. The whole matter has been made worse 
by the practice of some of the older generation of 
teachers who, in order to make the prescribed studies 
more palatable, descended to all kinds of amusement 
and play, instead of laying stress on abiding and grow- 
ing interest. A view that regards the end as a nec- 
essary evil to be rendered endurable by means of 
sweetmeats, implies an utter confusion of ideas ; and 
if pupils are not given serious tasks to perform, they 
will not find out what they are able to do. 



THE MATERIAL OF INSTRUCTION 97 

We must, however, note in this connection that 
there are legitimate occasions even for the sweeten- 
ing of study, just as in medicine there is a place for 
palliatives, notwithstanding the firm conviction of the 
physician that remedies promising a radical cure de- 
serve the preference. Harmful and reprehensible as 
habitual playing with a subject is when it usurps the 
place of serious and thorough instruction, in cases 
where a task is not difficult, but seems so to the 
pupil, it often becomes necessary to start him by a 
dexterous, cheerful, almost playlike presentation of 
that which he is to imitate. Superfluous prolixity 
and clumsiness, through the ennui alone that they 
produce, cause failure in the easiest things. All this 
applies especially to the teaching of younger children 
and to the first lessons in a new subject, e.g., learning 
to read Greek, the beginning of algebra, etc. 

100. If, among the conflicting opinions referred to, 
there is any vital point of controversy, it lies in the 
a priori assumption that certain subjects must be 
taught (96). Such an assumption educative instruc- 
tion cannot allow to be severed from the end aimed 
at : the intellectual self-activity of the pupil. This, 
and not mere knowledge, any more than utility, deter- 
mines the point of view with regard to the instruction- 
material. Experience and social intercourse are the 
primary sources of the pupil's ideas. It is with refer- 
ence to these two factors that we estimate strength 



98 INSTRUCTION 

or weakness in the ideas, and decide what instruction 
may accomplish with comparative ease or difficulty, 
at an earlier or at a later period. Good child litera- 
ture turns to these sources even while children are 
only just learning to read, and gradually enlarges 
their range of thoughts. Not until this has been 
done can the question of instruction in one or the 
other department of knowledge claim consideration. 

The term educative instruction frequently occurs. It means, 
primarily, instruction that has, in the broad sense, an ethical 
bearing, or an influence upon character. It is based on the 
idea that, not school discipline alone, but also school instruc- 
tion in the common branches should be of service to the child 
in moral and especially in social growth. The studies help to 
reveal to him his place and function in the world, they form 
his disposition toward men and things, they give him insight 
into ethical relations. Instruction that contains this element 
of moral training is therefore called educative instruction 
(Erziehender Unterrichf). 

ioi. The realia — natural history, geography, his- 
tory — possess this one unquestionable advantage, viz., 
easy association with experience and intercourse. Par- 
tially, at least, the pupil's spontaneous ideas (71) may 
go out toward them. Properly used, collections of 
plants, picture-books, maps, will contribute their share. 
In history, the fondness of youth for stories is utilized. 
The fact that these stories are partly taken from old 
books written in foreign languages, and that these 
languages were once actually spoken, has often to 



THE MATERIAL OF INSTRUCTION 99 

be mentioned in passing, before the study of these 
languages themselves is taken up, nay, even after 
they have been begun. 

It is useless to undertake a demonstration of the 
utility of the realia. The young do not act for the 
sake of the more remote ends. Pupils work when 
they feel they can do something ; and this conscious- 
ness of power to do must be created. 

The remark that it is useless to undertake to demonstrate to 
the young the ultimate utility of natural science studies leads 
naturally to a distinction between interest in the studies as 
ultimate ends and as immediate ends. It is suggested in this 
paragraph that pupils are interested in showing their capacity 
to accomplish results. It is very evident that one of the teach- 
er's -chief anxieties must be to awaken an interest in the 
studies as ends, not perhaps in their final utility in life, but as 
fields in which useful work can be done even in the immediate 
present. The chief category by which to measure the pupil's 
interest in the various activities of the schoolroom is the qual- 
ity of work that he can be taught to accomplish. One need 
not go far to learn that children like those studies best in 
which they can do the best work. This is true in several 
respects. They are interested in the artistic perfection of 
what they can accomplish, as in drawing, painting, writing, the 
arrangement of arithmetical problems, so that the page pre- 
sents a neat appearance, and so that all the processes are 
plainly revealed to the eye. They are interested in reading 
when they can call the words with facility, with neatness, with- 
out stumbling, mispronouncing or miscalling — when the tones 
of the voice are agreeable. The quality of the work, how- 

LtfC. 



100 INSTRUCTION 

ever, which appeals perhaps most powerfully to the children, 
is that of intellectual comprehension. In the reading class it 
is a constant delight to discover the finer shades of meaning, 
to express them with the voice, to detect in others any devia- 
tion from the true thought. Reading in English is particu- 
larly susceptible to this kind of treatment. For the English 
language being largely devoid of inflections does not show 
through the form of the words the finer distinctions of thought, 
but the mind must perceive these from a text largely devoid 
of grammatical inflections. It is quite possible, therefore, to 
read in such a manner as to miss all but the most salient 
points of the matter presented. There is in reading an inten- 
sive and an extensive magnitude. Our older method of teach- 
ing reading was to devote the time to a few extracts from 
literary masterpieces, which were exhausted by minute study. 
The more recent tendency in elementary education is to 
neglect this side of reading and to devote the time to the 
cursory reading, not of extracts, but of whole masterpieces of 
literature. The danger of such a proceeding is that the finer 
qualities of reading will be neglected for the sake of quanti- 
tative mastery of a large amount of reading matter. A middle 
course between the two would doubtless bring better results. 
It would, on the one hand, secure an interest that attaches to 
masterpieces as wholes, and, on the other, the literary appre- 
ciation that comes from minute analysis both in thought and 
expression of the finer distinctions of thought. In mathe- 
matical studies, the aesthetic interest of form, or the active 
interest of actual performance of problems, is not the sole or 
even the chief interest that should be appealed to. But the 
pupil should feel that he is making a progressive mastery of the 
principles of number. It is a pleasure to apply a rule, to solve 
a problem neatly ; but it is a still greater pleasure to compre- 



THE MATERIAL OF INSTRUCTION IOI 

hend thoroughly the meaning of the rule, to grasp and to feel 
its universality, so that although it is not worth while, as Her- 
bart suggests, to urge the ultimate function of mathematics in 
the life of the world, it is quite worth while to set up those 
immediate ends of interest such as appear in the activity of 
solving problems, in the aesthetic appearance of the work upon 
paper or board or slate, and in the comprehension of mathe- 
matical principles. These ends are near at hand ; they can 
be made to appeal to the pupil through the quality of the 
work that the teacher demands of him. The same is true in 
the natural sciences. ' Even though the ultimate function of 
biology is an idea too remote or too complex for the child 
to grasp with enthusiasm, the immediate mastery of a prin- 
ciple in physics, or the discovery of a law of plant life, or of a 
fact in chemistry, may be an end in which the pupil's most 
intense interest can be excited. 

102. Geometry has other advantages of association, 
advantages we have begun only recently to turn to 
account in earnest. Figures made of wood or paste- 
board, drawings, pegs, bars, flexible wires, strings, the 
use of the ruler, of compasses, of the square, counted 
coins arranged in long or short, in parallel or diverg- 
ing series, — all these may be offered to the eye ad libi- 
tum and connected with other concrete objects. They 
may be made the basis of systematic employment and 
exercises, and this will be done more and more when 
the fact is once grasped that concrete ideas possessing 
the proper degree of strength constitute the surest foun- 
dation of a branch of instruction whose success depends 



102 INSTRUCTION 

on the manner in which the pupil forms in his mind the 
ideas of spatial relations. This is not grasped, of course, 
by those who regard space once for all as a form of 
sense-perception common to all minds alike. A care- 
ful study of the data of experience will convince the 
practical educator that the opposite is true ; for in this 
respect individual differences are very marked. Pupils 
rarely hit upon geometrical constructions unaided ; the 
aptitude for drawing, that is, for imitating the objects 
seen, is met with more often. 

It is easy by abstraction to form arithmetical concepts 
out of the apprehension of geometrical relations. To 
do so should not be regarded as superfluous, not even 
when the pupil has already fully entered upon his work 
in arithmetic. 

103. To Germans the two ancient classical languages 
do not offer the advantages of easy transition. On the 
other hand, the study of Latin, even if only moderately 
advanced, prepares the soil for the most indispensable 
modern foreign languages. Herein lies an argument 
against beginning with French, as was often done for- 
merly. The linking of Latin to French will, more- 
over, hardly win the approval of students of languages, 
since, not to mention other reasons, Gallicisms are a 
source of no little danger to Latinity. 

The ancient languages require long-continued labor. 
This fact alone renders it advisable to begin them early. 
The strangeness of Latin for Germans should not lead 



THE MATERIAL OF INSTRUCTION 103 

to the conclusion that the study of Latin should be 
commenced late, but rather that during the earlier 
years of boyhood it should be carried on slowly. The 
sounds of foreign languages must be heard early, in 
order that the strangeness may wear off. Single 
Latin words will be easily mastered even by a child. 
These may soon be followed by short sentences con- 
sisting of two or three words. No matter if they are 
forgotten again for a time. That which is said to be 
forgotten is not on that account lost. The real diffi- 
culty lies in the multitude of strange elements that 
accumulate in relatively long sentences ; it lies also in 
the many ways of connecting subordinate clauses, in the 
qualifying insertions, in the order of words, and in the 
structure of the period. Furthermore, we must not 
overlook the fact that children are very slow to acquire 
the use of dependent clauses, even in German ; their 
speech for a long time consists merely of a stringing 
together of the simplest sentences. The attempt to 
advance them more rapidly in the syntactical forms of 
Latin than is possible in their mother-tongue is a waste 
of time ; and, besides, their inclination to study is put 
to a very severe test. 

Perhaps the most serious defect of secondary education in 
the United States is its brevity. Languages are not begun 
until the pupil is well on to fifteen years old. A reform most 
urgently needed in this country is the extension of high school 
influence to the two grades of the grammar school lying imme- 



104 INSTRUCTION 

diately below the high school. This would enable pupils to 
begin foreign languages at about the age of twelve, or two years 
later than they are now begun in Germany. 

104. The foregoing remarks show plainly enough 
that in educative instruction some subjects will be 
found a comparatively easy and sure means of awaken- 
ing intellectual activity, while others involve a more 
strenuous effort, which, under certain circumstances, 
may end in failure. The concrete studies are nearest 
to the pupil ; mathematics requires some apparatus to 
render it tangible and vivid ; to get pupils started 
properly in modern languages can be but a slow pro- 
cess. But this difference is, after all, not fundamental 
enough, nor does it affect the whole course of instruc- 
tion sufficiently, to constitute a serious pedagogical 
objection to the study of foreign languages, so long 
as there is time to teach them. Their fruits mature 
later. 



CHAPTER VII 

The Process of Instruction 

105. Whether or not instruction will begin well and 
go on properly depends on a combination of three 
factors, — the teacher, the pupil, and the subject taught. 
Failure of the subject-matter to excite the pupil's 
interest is followed by evil consequences moving in a 
circle. The pupil seeks to avoid the task set for him ; 
he remains silent or returns wrong answers ; the 
teacher insists on getting a correct answer ; the lesson 
is at a standstill ; the pupil's dislike grows more intense. 
To conquer dislike and indolence, the teacher now 
refuses altogether the assistance he could give ; as best 
he may, he compels the pupil to collect his thoughts, to 
work by himself, to prepare his lesson, to memorize, 
even to apply in written exercises what he knows but 
imperfectly, etc. The presentation proper has come 
to an end ; at all events it has ceased to be consecutive. 
Now the right kind of an example is wanting, which the 
teacher should set — one of reading, thinking, writing, 
that implies complete absorption in the subject. And 
yet it is this example concretely illustrating how to take 
hold of the subject, how to present it, and how to 
associate it with related subjects, which effects the best 

105 



106 INSTRUCTION 

results in good instruction. The teacher must set such 
an example, the pupil must imitate it as well as he can ; 
the teacher must render him active assistance. 

106. Instruction is either synthetic or analytic. In 
general, the term synthetic may be applied wherever 

/ the teacher himself determines directly the sequence 
and grouping of the parts of the lesson ; the term 
analytic, wherever the pupil's own thoughts are ex- 
pressed first, and these thoughts, such as they chance 
to be, are then, with the teacher's help, analyzed, cor- 
rected, and supplemented. But there are many things 
under this head that need to be defined and discrimi- 
nated more sharply. There are analyses of experience, 
of facts learned in school, and of opinions. There is 
one kind of synthesis which imitates experience ; there 
is another kind which consists in constructing design- 
edly a whole whose component parts have been pre- 
sented one by one previously. 

Here, again, many differences arise, owing to diver- 
sities inherent in the subject-matter. 

107. Since instruction builds on the pupil's expe- 
rience, we shall deal first with that form of synthesis 
which imitates, or copies experience. We may name 
it purely presentative instruction. The term synthetic, 
on the other hand, will henceforth be reserved for that 
form of instruction which reveals clearly the process 
of building up a whole out of parts presented singly 
beforehand. 



THE PROCESS OF INSTRUCTION 107 

The purely presentative method of instruction, 
although practicable only to a limited extent, is never- 
theless so effectual as to entitle it to separate treat- 
ment, so effectual that the teacher — and this is the 
main thing — will do well to train himself carefully 
in its use. Skill in this direction is the surest means 
of securing interest. 

It is customary to demand that the pupil acquire 
facility in narration and description, but we ought not 
to forget that here above all the teacher must lead 
the way by setting a good example. To be sure, 
there is an abundance of printed narrative and descrip- 
tion, but reading does not produce the effect that 
hearing does. Viva vox docet. As a rule, we cannot 
take for granted that a boy has even the skill and 
patience required for reading ; and if perfect facility 
has been attained, the reading is done too rapidly. 
There is too much hurry to get to the end, or too 
much delay over the wrong passages, so that the con- 
nection is lost. At the most, we may let the pupils 
that read exceptionally well read aloud to the class. 
By far the surer means to the end in view is the oral 
presentation by the teacher. But in order that such 
presentation may produce its effect undisturbed, it 
needs to be perfectly free and untrammelled. 

108. The first requisite for free oral presentation 
is a cultivated style of speaking. Many teachers need 
to be warned against the use of set phrases, against 



108 INSTRUCTION 

mere expletives, faulty enunciation, pauses filled in 
with inarticulate sounds, against fragments of sen- 
tences, clumsy parentheses, etc. 

In the second place, adaptation of the vocabulary 
employed, both to the subject-matter and to the intel- 
ligence of the pupils, and adjustment of phraseology 
to the pupil's stage of culture are essential. 

Lastly, careful memorizing. At first this should 
be done almost verbatim. At all events, the teacher 
must prepare his lesson as though he had his pupils 
before him and were talking to them. Later on he 
must memorize at least the facts and turning-points 
of the subject to be presented, in order that he may 
not be compelled to consult books or look at notes. 
A few remarks on some particular points will be 
made farther on. 

109. The effect of the teacher's narrative and de- 
scription should be to make the pupil realize events 
and objects as vividly as if they were actually present 
to his eye and ear. The pupil must, therefore, have 
actually heard and seen much previously. This recalls 
to our minds the necessity, pointed out before, of 
first enlarging the young pupil's range of experience, 
when found too limited, through excursions and the 
exhibition of objects. Again, this form of instruction 
is adapted only to things that might be heard or seen. 
We must therefore avail ourselves of all the help 
pictures can give. 



THE PROCESS OF INSTRUCTION 109 

If the presentation has been a success, the repro- 
duction by the pupils will show that they recall, not 
merely the main facts, but largely even the teacher's 
language. They have retained more exactly than 
they have been asked to do. Besides, the teacher 
who narrates and describes well gains a strong hold 
on the affections of his pupils ; he will find them more 
obedient in matters pertaining to discipline. 

The foregoing paragraphs on presentative instruction may 
seem strange to the American teacher. We must remember, 
however, that they were written before the modern era of text- 
books, when, in point of fact, the teacher was practically the 
sole reliance for the facts that the children were to learn. It 
is the custom, even to the present, in the lower schools of 
Germany, to rely very largely upon the teacher for the informa- 
tion which the children are to acquire. In American schools, 
this method is not followed, for so enormous has been the 
development of text-book industry, that in every field of edu- 
cation the richest material is offered to the schools in the form 
of text-books. There is, however, still a legitimate field for 
purely presentative instruction in the earlier grades of the ele- 
mentary school, especially in literature and in the beginnings 
of history. The most primitive method of instruction, as we 
see clearly in the earlier periods of Grecian education, was the 
narrative The children of those days received their instruc- 
tion in history, mythology, literature, geography, by listening to 
the tales of heroes and heroic deeds narrated by their parents, 
by wandering minstrels and rhapsodists. To this day, the 
teacher who can narrate biographical or literary matter in an 
attractive manner is sure to awaken intense interest in the 



110 INSTRUCTION 

children under her control. Perhaps one facility which the 
modern teacher needs to acquire more than any other is 
the capacity of happy, vivacious, interesting narrative cast, at 
the same time, into simple yet excellent literary form. Such 
a teacher is an undoubted treasure in the primary school. 
There is occasion, moreover, in nearly all school study for 
the presentation of supplementary material in almost every 
school study. This is true especially in literature and his- 
tory. It is also true in geography and in mathematics, as 
where, for instance, the teacher narrates the methods of 
the ancient Egyptians in the development of geometrical 
ideas, or those of the Greeks. If one is teaching a foreign 
language, one may always find happy opportunities for in- 
troducing bits of history, biography, or other illuminating 
material. In the sciences nothing is more interesting to chil- 
dren, more stimulative of renewed effort, than narratives con- 
cerning our great scientists, their desire for education, their 
struggle to attain knowledge, their misfortunes, and their 
triumphs. Every aspect of instruction may be supplemented 
and illumined by instruction given in the purely presentative 
form of narration. 

no. While skilful presentation produces results 
akin to an extension of the pupil's range of actual 
experience, analysis helps to make experience more 
instructive. For, left to itself, experience is not a 
teacher whose instruction is systematic. It does not 
obey the law of actual progress from the simple to 
the complex. Things and events crowd in upon the 
mind in masses ; the result is often chaotic appre- 
hension. Inasmuch, then, as experience presents 



THE PROCESS OF INSTRUCTION III 

aggregates before it gives the component particulars, 
it becomes the task of instruction to reverse this order 
and to adjust the facts of experience to the sequence 
demanded in teaching. Experience, it is true, asso- 
ciates its content ; but if this earlier association is 
to have the share in the work of the school that it 
should have, that which has been experienced and 
that which has been learned must be made to har- 
monize. With this end in view we need to supple- 
ment experience. The facts it has furnished have to 
be made clearer and more definite than they are, and 
must be given an appropriate embodiment in language. 
in. Let us consider first the earliest stage of ana- 
lytic instruction. In order to understand the signifi- 
cance of this method of teaching, we must examine the 
nature of a child's experience. Children are indeed in 
the habit of familiarizing themselves with their sur- 
roundings ; but the strongest impressions predominate. 
Objects in motion have greater attraction for them than 
objects at rest. They tear up and destroy without 
troubling themselves much about the real connection 
between the parts of a whole. In spite of their many 
why's and what for's, they make use of every tool or 
utensil without regard for its purpose ; they are satis- 
fied if it serves the impulse of the moment. Their 
eyes are keen, but they rarely observe ; the real char- 
acter of things does not deter them from making a 
plaything of everything, as their fancy may direct, and 



112 INSTRUCTION 

from making one thing stand for every other thing. 
They receive total impressions of similar objects, but do 
not derive concepts ; the abstract does not enter their 
minds of itself. 

These and similar observations, however, apply by 
no means equally to every child. On the contrary, 
children differ greatly from one another ; and, with the 
child's individuality, his one-sidedness already begins. 

112. It follows at once that the first thing to be done, 
in a school where many children are to be taught to- 
gether, is to make the children more alike in their 
knowledge. To this end the store of experiences 
which they bring with them must be worked over. 
But the homogeneity of pupils, desirable as it is, is 
not the sole aim. We must take care also that the 
whole of instruction acts upon the particular stock of 
ideas of each pupil taken individually. We must seek 
those points of contact and departure to which atten- 
tion has repeatedly been called above, and hence 
cannot leave the pupil's mass of ideas in its original 
crude state. Thoughtful teachers have long since 
testified to the necessity of this requirement, which 
mere scholars in their zeal for learning fail again and 
again to appreciate. 

Niemeyer, in his widely read work, opens his treat- 
ment of the particular laws of instruction with a chapter 
entitled : " The First Steps in awakening Attention and 
Reflection through Instruction, or Exercises in Think- 



THE PROCESS OF INSTRUCTION 113 

ing." These exercises are no other than the elementary 
processes of analytic instruction. He says : " When the 
age, the health, and the strength of children have made 
instruction proper seem expedient, the first lesson 
should be one of the kind described in the chapter 
heading. Such exercises might be profitably continued 
in some form or other until the ninth or tenth year, and 
probably even later. The fact that it is not easy to 
describe them in a word very likely explains why we 
fail to find them in -most programmes of private and pub- 
lic schools. That at last some attention is being given 
even in the common schools to this matter is one of 
the venerable Canon Rochow's imperishable services to 
education." 

Pestalozzi, in his book for mothers, strikes out in the 
same direction. It will not serve the purpose, to be 
sure, to confine oneself, as he does, to a single object ; 
still, the kind of exercises is indicated very definitely 
by him ; indeed, more definitely, in some ways, than by 
Niemeyer. 

113. The notions of pupils about surrounding objects, 
that is, notions in which the strongest impressions pre- 
dominate (in), must be made to approach uniformity 
first. This is accomplished by uniform reproduction. 

On this point Niemeyer says, "The teacher should 
begin by talking with his pupils about those objects 
which are, at the time, affecting their senses directly. 
Pointing to these objects, he asks the pupils to name 



1 14 INSTRUCTION 

them. He then passes on to things that are not pres- 
ent, but that the children have seen or felt before. At 
the same time he exercises their powers of imagination 
and expression by making them enumerate what they 
are able to recall. Suitable material : everything in 
the schoolroom ; the human body ; everything pertain- 
ing to food, dress, comfort ; things found in the fields, 
in the garden, in the yard ; animals and plants so far 
as they are known by the children." 

114. The next step consists in pointing out the 
main facts of a given whole, the relative position of 
these parts, their connection, and their movability, if 
they can be moved without damage. To this are 
properly linked the simplest facts concerning the uses 
of things. At the same time children are taught how 
they must not use things, and how, instead of ruining 
them, they ought to look after them and use them 
with care. The abundance and number of things, 
their size, form, and weight, should likewise be re- 
ferred to as early as this stage, and should furnish 
occasion for comparisons. 

But something more is needed to give distinctness 
to the ideas of pupils, and to prepare the way for 
future abstract thinking. Beginning first with the 
objects, we derive from them the predicates by search- 
ing out the attributes ; this done, we must in turn 
make the predicates our starting-point, and classify the 
objects under the heads thus obtained. This distinc- 



THE PROCESS OF INSTRUCTION 115 

tion has been made before by Pestalozzi ; it is one of 
fundamental importance in the preparation for gen- 
eralization. While engaged in such work pupils will 
of themselves learn to compare, to discriminate, and, 
in some instances, to observe more accurately : erro- 
neous notions due to an active imagination will be 
corrected by the appeal to experience as the source 
of knowledge. 

115. Of what remains to be done, the most impor- 
tant task consists in securing a comprehensive view 
of a somewhat extended time-series, of which objects, 
together with their natural or artificial origins, are 
members. An elementary knowledge will thus be 
gained, especially of the simplest facts about manufac- 
turing processes, and about intercourse among human 
beings, which facts will serve subsequently as the 
groundwork for instruction in natural history and 
geography. But for history also the way must be 
prepared by referring, although only in the most gen- 
eral way, to times when the utensils and tools of the 
present had not yet been invented, when the arts of 
to-day were as yet unknown, and when people were 
still without those materials that are now imported 
from foreign countries. 

1 16. It does not follow, because no definite periods 
are set apart for the instruction described, that it is 
not being given at all. We may find it incorporated, 
to a large extent, with something else, particularly 



Il6 INSTRUCTION 

with the interpretation of elementary reading matter, 
which forms part of the first work in the mother- 
tongue. Nevertheless, a subject that is taught only 
incidentally is always liable to suffer, if not from indif- 
ference, at least from inadequate treatment. 

On the other hand, we cannot fail to recognize that 
the appointment of separate periods for analytic in- 
struction may prove difficult, owing to the fact that 
the rate of progress depends so largely on the stock 
of ideas pupils bring with them, and on their readi- 
ness to utter what they think and feel. Besides, 
while Niemeyer expressly says, " Children taught in 
this manner know nothing of tedium," he also hastens 
to add, "but it is easy to spoil them by too rapid 
changes of subject." The same, or similar bad con- 
sequences, may- result from other school exercises 
where the teacher himself supplies a profusion of in- 
struction-material, and so relieves his pupils of the 
trouble of gathering such material from their own 
recollections. On the whole, therefore, it will be well 
enough to set apart but few hours, or weeks, for the 
first attempts ; and these can be made a part of the 
lessons in the mother-tongue. 

In private instruction the difficulty spoken of is 
not encountered. Besides, the ample opportunities 
afforded for observing the pupil's store of ideas make 
it easy to devise a suitable plan for the earliest ana- 
lytic teaching. 



THE PROCESS OF INSTRUCTION 117 

In the foregoing paragraphs on analytical instruction, the 
question naturally arises, " Is such instruction to be regarded as 
an end in itself, or as a means for preparing the mind for more 
perfect assimilation of the subject-matter to be presented from 
day to day in the various studies?" Since the time these 
paragraphs were written, not only Germany herself, but also 
America has gone through a varied experience with respect to 
what we call object teaching. It was at one time conceived 
that a specific hour should be set apart each day for instruct- 
ing the children in the observation of objects. In other words, 
object lessons were a distinct part of the programme. It was 
supposed that in this way the children could be made con- 
scious of the significance of their environment, and that it was 
highly desirable that such an end should be brought about. In 
Germany the same effort was undertaken under the name of 
Anschauimgstuiterricht, but since the multiplication of text- 
books, and the increased pressure upon the schools brought 
about through the introduction of new subjects of study, it has 
been found inadvisable to devote a specific period of the day 
to isolated analytic instruction upon objects. Such instruction, 
however, has by no means passed from the field of usefulness, 
even in our very best schools. The necessity of appealing 
powerfully to previous experience, in and out of the school- 
room, as a basis for understanding a matter presented in the 
daily lessons, is everywhere recognized. From being an end 
of school work, therefore, analytic instruction has passed to the 
realm of a useful means for arousing the mental activity of the 
children concerning the regular lessons of the schoolroom. It 
is, in modern terms, an apperceptive basis for all instruction. 

117- At a later time analytic instruction reappears 
in other forms, those of review and the correction of 



Il8 INSTRUCTION 

written exercises. The teacher has presented a body 
of facts ; he has furnished the helps necessary for the 
solution of certain problems. What he has given, the 
pupils are expected to produce again in their review 
exercises and essays. Where necessary, their work is 
analyzed and corrected. 

In conducting reviews a pedagogical blunder is apt 
to be made — a blunder that brings on the evils speci- 
fied in a former paragraph (105); review is confounded 
with examination. The two are radically different. If 
the teacher could be sure of both perfect attention 
and full comprehension, he himself would go over the 
ground covered by his first talk once more for the 
purpose of assisting the memory ; the pupils would 
not be called upon to take part. In this case, we 
should have neither analytic instruction nor anything 
resembling an examination. As a matter of fact, how- 
ever, pupils are usually asked to reproduce what and 
as much as they remember. This is easily taken to 
mean that they should have retained everything, 
which, strictly speaking, is not expected even in an 
examination. The purpose of an examination is to 
ascertain the actual state of knowledge, whatever it 
may prove to be ; reviews are conducted for the pur- 
pose of increasing and deepening knowledge. If an 
examination is followed by praise or censure, well and 
good; a review has nothing to do with either. 

Since reviewing and drilling, which resembles the 



THE PROCESS OF INSTRUCTION 1 19 

former, claim the larger portion of the time devoted 
to school work, it will be worth while to examine the 
subject somewhat more closely. 

118. Repetition of several ideas intensifies those 
ideas. It does more than that. If they are of opposed 
nature, the reciprocal arrest that ensues resists their 
fusion less during the reproduction than it did in the 
original act of apprehension. The fusion increases 
in completeness, and, besides, becomes more uniform, 
i.e., the weaker ideas hold their own better alongside 
of the stronger. Again, if a series of successive ideas 
is repeated, the first members of the series of them- 
selves tend to reproduce those that follow before the 
latter are repeated — a tendency gathering energy in 
proportion to the frequency of repetition. This fact 
underlies the increase in rapidity which comes with 
growing skill. Extraneous thoughts, however, very 
easily interrupt the psychical process of reproduction. 

Let us assume that the teacher's presentation has 
been an adequate one and has lasted no longer than 
the capacity of the pupils permitted, only a few min- 
utes, perhaps. He himself might now repeat ; but asks 
his pupils to do so, lest their thoughts begin to wander 
from the subject in hand. He comes to their aid 
and repeats only when their own attempts have failed. 
But very often they have retained some things and 
forgotten others. In this case it becomes his business 
to reinforce the ideas striving to rise into conscious- 



120 INSTRUCTION 

ness, but without disturbing their movement. In 
other words, he should prompt neither more nor less, 
should lend aid neither sooner nor later, than will serve 
to make the pupil's train of thought coincide as nearly 
as possible with that of the presentation properly given. 
Unless this is done, the reproduction fails to effect the 
required association and facility. The same ground 
is gone over again and again in vain ; fatigue sets in, 
and the wrong association takes place — a matter for 
grave apprehension. If the pupils are in an unre- 
sponsive mood, the teacher must go slow, for the time 
being ; if interest is lacking, he cannot incite the proper 
movement of ideas. If the teacher is not conducting 
the repetition with skill, the fragmentary answers of 
the pupils indicate well enough after a time that the 
desired current of thought has not been generated. 

119. We have taken it for granted that the presen- 
tation was an adequate one — one that might serve as 
a model (105). Where this adjustment of means and 
ends extends, as it may, even to the language, the 
latter should be closely followed in the repetition, 
but without pedantic insistence on unimportant de- 
tails. But very frequently the essential feature of 
the_presentation is found in the sequence of thought. 
In that case expression will vary, and the teacher is 
satisfied at first if, in repeating, the pupils furnish 
evidence that they understand ; he allows them to 
use their own words, though less appropriate. He 



THE PROCESS OF INSTRUCTION 121 

must, still, however, look carefully after the given 
sequence, which the repetition is to reproduce with 
the greatest possible coherence. 

120. The case is different when later on larger 
sections of a course of successful instruction are to 
be repeated. During all the earlier stage particular 
facts were moved far apart C68) for the sake of clear- 
ness ; by means of conversation, or of incidental men- 
tion in other recitations, or through experience itself 
(no), provision was made also for association of various 
kinds. Now it becomes the business of repetition in 
the first place to gather together into a smaller com- 
pass what has been expanded ; next it subserves the 
purpose of systematic arrangement, and lastly, is often 
of use for making the instruction more complete and 
for adding the difficult to the comparatively easy. 
Here the mode of presentation itself changes to meet 
the requirements of a more advanced grade of work. 
But repetition immediately after the presentation, or, 
perhaps, during the next hour, will, as a rule, remain 
necessary even at this higher stage. 

121. Here, where compression and insertions are 
to modify the material of instruction, we need to 
inquire into the forms of connection peculiar to the 
objects, together with those essential for use, and to 
determine accordingly the series and web of ideas to 
be formed in the mind of the pupil. For such organi- 
zation of ideas, repetition is, at all events, far better 



122 INSTRUCTION 

adapted than presentation, which can traverse only 
one of several series at a time, and which passes into 
repetition the moment an effort is made to bring the 
other series forward also. In natural history, for 
example, various classifications occur, in history the 
ethnographic divisions are crossed by the synchronistic, 
while the history of culture demands yet another basis 
of association ; in geography each noted city is to be 
a landmark, enabling the pupil to take his bearings 
in every direction, but cities on rivers suggest river 
basins and mountain ranges ; in mathematics each 
theorem is to be kept ready for separate application, 
but it has also its special place in the chain of demon- 
strations ; grammatical rules, too, should be available 
when called for, but it is very necessary at the same 
time that the pupil become perfectly at home in his 
grammar and know where to look for information. 

The teacher who, by skilful repetition, does justice 
to these multiform associations, is not always the one 
who shows most skill in systematic presentation, and 
who knows best how to make prominent the main 
thoughts, and to link to them those that are subordi- 
nate. 

122. The impulse to repeat must, as a rule, come 
from points with which pupils are familiar. It is 
further requisite that the teacher, in conducting the 
repetition, adapt himself to their train of thought ; he 
must not adhere strictly to an inflexible plan. The 



THE PROCESS OF INSTRUCTION 1 23 

necessary corrections require delay here and there ; 
the corrected statements often constitute new points 
from which to take bearings. At times the pupils 
themselves should feel free to indicate which topics 
it seems most necessary to repeat. By so doing they 
assume a certain responsibility as to the rest, and are 
made to realize all the more their obligation to make 
up deficiencies. 

123. The correction of written work likewise falls 
under the head of analytic instruction, but the toil 
exceeds the profit if written work is demanded too 
early. While writing the pupil consolidates his ideas. 
Now if he does so incorrectly, the effect is mischievous, 
his mistakes cling to him. Moreover, the teacher has 
to be on his guard lest, while orally correcting and 
reading over the composition, he overestimate the 
pupil's attention. When many slips occur, when a 
whole forest of mistakes is found to have sprung up, 
the pupil becomes indifferent to them all ; they make 
humble, but they also dishearten. Such tasks should, 
therefore, be very brief, if the pupil is weak ; nay, it 
is preferable to have none at all, as long as progress 
is being made more surely by a different kind of exer- 
cises. 

The teacher who assigns home work with a view to 
saving labor in school miscalculates utterly; his work 
will soon have become all the harder. 

To many it seems that the exercises they assign 



124 INSTRUCTION 

should be very easy, rather than short ; and to make 
them easy, outlines, turns of expression, everything, 
is indicated as definitely as possible. This is a delu- 
sion. If composition has any purpose, it consists in 
making the pupil try to see what he can do without 
the teacher. Now if the pupil actually gets started 
on the exercise, the teacher ought not to step in his 
way with all sorts of prescriptions. If the pupil fails 
to make headway, the attempt was premature. We 
must either wait or else shorten the task, no matter if 
it should shrink to no more than three lines. Three 
lines of the pupil's own work are better than three 
pages written by direction. It may take years before 
the self-deception due to leading-string methods is 
superseded by a true estimate of the pupil's actual 
power. 

124. The case is quite different if, before writing, 
the pupil has been assisted orally in developing his 
thoughts. This kind of analysis is of special impor- 
tance in later boyhood ; but the teacher should see 
to it that the pupil gives free expression to his own 
opinion. If he does, a theme has been furnished for 
discussion during which the teacher will avoid harsh 
dissent in proportion to his eagerness to accomplish 
something with his pupil. To rebuke presuming bold- 
ness or impudence is a different matter, of course. 

Self-chosen themes are preferable by far to those 
that are assigned, only they cannot be expected of the 



THE PROCESS OF INSTRUCTION 125 

majority of pupils. But when they do turn up, the 
character of the choice alone, but still more the execu- 
tion, will throw light on the opinions current among 
the pupils, and on the impressions which not only the 
school, but experience and society as well, have been 
constantly at work to produce. The writer's individu- 
ality reveals itself even more distinctly. Every teacher 
must be prepared to come upon these individual traits, 
however much he might prefer to have his pupils reflect 
himself. It would- be futile if he attempted to correct 
their essays by interpolating his own view ; he would 
not by that means make the latter their own. The 
mode of treatment can be corrected ; but other oppor- 
tunities will have to serve for the rectification of 
opinions — provided this can ever be undertaken suc- 
cessfully. 

125. With regard to synthetic instruction, we assume 
at the outset that it will be supported during the whole 
course of training by the merely presentative and the 
analytic methods of teaching, wherever these are in 
place. Otherwise the ultimate result will always re- 
main problematical, particularly the union of learning 
and life. 

Synthetic instruction brings in much that is new 
and strange ; and we must take advantage of the 
universal charm of novelty. It must cooperate with 
acquired habits of application, and with the interest 
peculiar to each subject taught. The affairs, not of 



126 INSTRUCTION 

Italy alone, but also those of Greece and the Orient, 
have become a matter of everyday discussion. There 
has been a general diffusion of knowledge about the 
facts and laws of nature. Hence even younger chil- 
dren cannot help but pick up many things now that 
will tend to forestall the indifference or aversion with 
which school studies were regarded not longer than 
fifty years ago. They seemed to be something foreign 
to life. At present, it cannot prove difficult to turn 
curiosity in the direction of distant lands, and of past 
ages even, especially where collections of rare articles 
and antiquities are accessible. This stimulation would 
not persist long, however, in the face of the labor of 
learning, if there did not exist at the same time a 
widespread conviction of the necessity of study, a con- 
viction reinforced by the legal requirements of schools, 
particularly of the gymnasia. Accordingly, families 
exert a good influence with respect to the industry 
of children ; and with the right sort of government 
and training in school, willingness to learn is easily 
secured. Less easy is it to incite a genuinely scien- 
tific desire to know, one that will endure beyond ex- 
aminations. This brings us back to many-sidedness 
of interest (83-94). If interest were not already the 
end of instruction, we should have to look upon it as 
the only means whereby the results of teaching can 
be given permanence. 

Interest depends partly, it is true, on native capacity, 



THE PROCESS OF INSTRUCTION 127 

which the school cannot create; but it depends also 
on the subject-matter of instruction. 

126. Synthetic instruction must offer subjects capa- 
ble of arousing lasting and spontaneously radiating 
interest. That which affords only temporary pleasure 
or light entertainment is of too little consequence to 
determine the plan of operation. Nor can the choice 
of such studies be recommended as stand isolated, as 
do not lead to continued effort ; for, other reasons 
aside, we are unable to decide beforehand to which of 
the main classes of interest (83-94) the individual 
pupil will especially incline. The first place belongs 
rather to those studies which appeal to the mind in 
a variety of ways and are capable of stimulating each 
pupil according to his individuality. For such subjects 
ample time must be allowed ; they must be made the 
object of prolonged, diligent effort. We may then 
hope that they will take hold in some way, and we 
shall be in a position to know what kind of interest 
they have inspired in one pupil or another. Where, 
on the contrary, the end of the thread of work is soon 
reached, it remains questionable whether any effort at 
all will be produced, let alone a lasting impression. 

127. The subject-matter having been chosen, the 
treatment must be adjusted to it in such a way as to 
bring it within reach of the pupils. For the exercises 
growing out of such treatment, the well-known rule 
holds in general : the easy before the difficult, or ? more 



128 INSTRUCTION 

specifically, that which prepares the way before that 
which cannot be firmly grasped without preliminary 
knowledge. To insist, however, on perfect mastery 
in this respect, is often equivalent to scaring away 
interest. Absolute proficiency in preliminary knowl- 
edge is a late achievement, nor is it attained without 
fatigue. The teacher has to be satisfied if the mastery 
acquired is such that what is lacking can, without 
serious delay, be added by him in practice. To make 
the road so level as to do away entirely with the 
necessity for occasional leaps (96), means to provide 
for the convenience of the teacher rather than for that 
of the pupils. The young love to climb and jump; 
they do not take kindly to an absolutely level path. 
But they are afraid in the dark. There must be 
light enough for them to see by ; in other words, 
the subject must lie spread out before their eyes with 
such distinctness that each step is seen to be a step 
forward, which brings them perceptibly nearer to a 
distant goal. 

128. With regard to the sequence of studies we 
need to distinguish first of all between preparatory 
knowledge and ability to do. As is well known, the 
latter, even when it has been fully attained, can be 
secured against loss only by long-continued practice. 
Hence the practice of the pupil's skill must go on 
constantly from the time when he first learns to apply 
what he knows. But merely preliminary knowledge, 



THE PROCESS OF INSTRUCTION 1 29 

which produced fatigue before it was mastered, may 
be allowed to drop out of the memory. Enough 
remains to make it easier to resume the subject at a 
later time (92, 103). Accordingly, not the prelimi- 
nary knowledge just referred to, but the pupil's facility 
in doing, supplies the principle determining sequence. 
In the case of all essential elementary information 
— knowledge of rudiments of grammar, arithmetic, 
and geometry — it will be found expedient to begin 
with the simplest elements long before any practical 
application is made. In such first lessons individual 
facts only are presented. These are made clear to 
the pupils (68, 69) ; here and there they are associated. 
Fatigue is avoided if possible. Even if the earliest 
attempts at memorizing should prove successful, it 
will be safer, instead of relying on this fact, to post- 
pone the whole matter for a time. At a later period 
the same subject is resumed from the beginning with- 
out any demand on the teacher's part that some 
things should have been retained. This time, how- 
ever, it will be possible to introduce a somewhat 
larger quantity of the instruction-material, and it will 
not be too early to make pupils perceive the connection 
between individual facts. If pupils experience diffi- 
culty in comprehending, we should be careful not to 
advance too rapidly ; the greater the difficulty, the 
greater the need for caution. When the time comes 
for practical application, an earnest, diligent effort 



I30 INSTRUCTION 

must be insisted on, but only for tasks of moderate 
length, and without exacting too much by harsh means. 
Not every pupil can do everything. Sometimes a 
pupil will at a later period acquire the power he does 
not possess now, if only his chances for success have 
not been spoiled by earlier blindness on the part of 
his teacher. 

129. Again, corresponding to each stage of instruc- 
tion, there is a certain capacity for apperceiving atten- 
tion (77) which deserves careful consideration. For 
we ought to avail ourselves of the comparatively easy 
in order to facilitate indirectly what would otherwise 
prove difficult and time-consuming. 

We need to distinguish between insertion and con- 
tinuation, and to connect this distinction with the 
division of ideas into spontaneous and induced (71). 
It is easier to fill in between familiar points than it 
is to continue, because the continued series is in close 
contact with the well known only at the starting-point. 
Easiest of all is insertion between free-rising ideas, 
between those ideas that occur to the pupil sponta- 
neously, when he has been led into a certain field of 
consciousness. Hardest of all, and least certain of 
success, is the continuation of lessons that can be 
revived in consciousness only by a laborious effort 
of memory. Intermediate in difficulty are the inser- 
tion of new elements between induced or reproduced 
ideas, and continuation on the basis of free-rising, or 



THE PROCESS OF INSTRUCTION 1 3 1 

spontaneous, ideas. That there may be many grada- 
tions besides is of course self-evident. 

The teacher who knows his pupils well will be able 
to make frequent use of these distinctions. Only a 
very general outline of their application can be given 
here. 

The realia and mathematics can be connected more 
easily than other studies with the pupil's experience 
(101, 102). If the teacher has properly availed him- 
self of this advantage, he may count on ideas that rise 
spontaneously, and his task will then consist in first 
establishing a few suitable cardinal points so that in- 
sertions may be made farther on. 

Languages present more serious difficulties. It is 
true that progress in the vernacular is made through 
apperception by the pupil's earlier attainments in his 
mother-tongue, and through the insertion of the new 
into the old. But in foreign languages, which associ- 
ate themselves with the mother-tongue only gradually, 
apperception and insertion cannot take place until after 
some knowledge of the language has been acquired. 
And this knowledge must grow considerably before 
we can reasonably look for spontaneous ideas. If 
now the reproduced ideas become encumbered with 
additional new ones, worst of all through mere con- 
tinuation, we need not wonder if the result is useless 
chaos. 

This explains, no doubt, why the attempts to teach 



132 INSTRUCTION 

the ancient languages ex ttsu, after the manner in which 
the language of a foreign country is easily learned 
by residence in that country, had to end in failure. 
One who learns French in France has persons and 
actions before his eyes ; he easily infers that which 
concerns him. Such apperception takes place un- 
doubtedly by means of spontaneous ideas with which 
the foreign language becomes associated. Before long 
the language itself becomes an apperceiving factor 
and participates in the process of learning. For the 
ancient languages, on the contrary, a grammatical 
working basis is needed first, especially a knowledge 
of inflectional endings, pronouns, and particles. The 
blunder should not be made, to be sure, of beginning 
with a marshalling of the hosts of grammar, as though 
grammar itself needed no base of operations. Long 
practice of what is most necessary must precede. But 
the worst plan would be to start in with cursory 
reading ; in other words, to continue without making 
sure of anything. 

Even cursory reading, however, produces good re- 
sults under one condition ; namely, the existence of 
a lively interest in the contents. 

130. When the thoughts of the reader hasten on 
in advance of the words and get hold of the general 
sense correctly, the required apperception is performed 
by means of spontaneous ideas together with the 
insertion of whatever was not inferred. But this pre- 



THE PROCESS OF INSTRUCTION 133 

supposes a very favorable relation of the book to the 
reader. Hence texts used in the teaching of a lan- 
guage must be chosen with very great care, and their 
contents explained. 

Such work should not be slighted in favor of gram- 
mar ; on the other hand, as much grammar must be 
given as is necessary. Some of the essentials will 
have to precede the reading ; complementary facts 
will be presented in connection with the reading; 
other portions of -the grammatical apparatus will be 
introduced at suitable halting-places. Written exer- 
cises belong elsewhere and stand in a different rela- 
tion to grammar. 

The interest in an author depends very largely on 
historical preparation ; here we cannot fail to discover 
connection between philology and the so-called real 
studies. 



CHAPTER VIII 
Remarks on the Plan of Instruction as a Whole 

131. Where many diverse means are to cooperate 
for the attainment of one end, where many obstacles 
have to be overcome, where persons of higher, equal, 
and lower rank enter as factors requiring consideration, 
it is always a difficult matter to keep the end itself, 
the one fixed goal, steadily in view. In instruction the 
difficulty is increased by the fact that no one single 
teacher can impart the whole, and that consequently 
a number of teachers are obliged to depend on one 
another. But for this very reason, however much circum- 
stances may vary the courses of study, the common 
end, namely, many-sided, well-balanced, well-connected 
interest, in the achievement of which the true develop- 
ment of mental powers consists, needs to be lifted into 
prominence as the one thing toward which all details 
of procedure should point. 

132. No more time, we need to realize at the out- 
set, should be demanded for instruction than is con- 
sistent with the proviso that the pupils retain their 
natural buoyancy of spirits. This must be insisted on, 
and not merely for the sake of health and physical vigor ; 

*34 



THE PLAN OF INSTRUCTION AS A WHOLE 1 35 

a more direct argument for our present purpose lies in 
the fact that all art and labor employed to keep the 
attention awake will be thwarted by the disinclination 
to study caused by sitting too long, and even by exces- 
sive mental application alone. Forced attention does 
not suffice for instruction, even though it may be had 
through disciplinary measures. 

It is urgently necessary that every school have not 
only spacious schoolrooms, but also a playground ; it 
is further necessary that each recitation be followed by 
an intermission, that after the first two periods permis- 
sion be granted for exercise in the open air, and that 
the same permission be given after the third period if 
there is a fourth to follow. 

Still more urgent is the demand that pupils shall not 
be deprived of their hours of needed recreation by an 
excessive amount of school work to be done at home. 
The teacher who loads pupils down with home tasks 
in order to dispense as much as possible with perhaps 
uncertain home supervision, substitutes a certain and 
general evil for a possible and partial one. 

The neglect of such precautions has given rise in 
recent times to very bitter complaints, which will con- 
tinue to be heard in future for similar reasons. Violent 
gymnastic exercise is not the means to put a stop to 
them. They threaten to lead to another extreme — 
such restrictions upon instruction as will make an inner 
unity of work impossible. 



I36 INSTRUCTION 

The subjects of fatigue and school hygiene have now grown 
to unexpected dimensions. Many periodicals are devoted to 
them, while the volume of literature bearing upon them has 
passed the stage where one person can be expected to com- 
mand it all. In his "Bibliography of School Hygiene," pub- 
lished in the " Proceedings of the National Educational Asso- 
ciation for 1898," Professor William H. Burnham enumerates 
four hundred and thirty-six standard works, articles, and jour- 
nals dedicated to this cause. Many of these books, like those 
of Eulenberg and Bach, or Burgerstein and Netolitzky, com- 
prise hundreds of pages, being based on extended experiment 
and research. 

133. The time properly belonging to instruction 
must not be scattered. The deep-rooted practice of as- 
signing two hours per week to one study and two hours 
to another, each lesson separated from the next by an 
interval of two or three days, is absurd, because incom- 
patible with continuity of presentation. Of course, 
if the teacher can stand this arrangement, the pupils 
will have to endure it. 

The subjects of instruction must be taken up in 
order that each may have its share of continuous time. 
To give a whole term to each is not always practicable ; 
frequently shorter periods will have to suffice. 

Again, one subject must not be split into several, 
according to the names of its branches. If, for 
example, we should set apart separate hours for Greek 
and Roman antiquities and again for mythology in 
addition to the time designated for the reading of 



THE PLAN OF INSTRUCTION AS A WHOLE 1 37 

ancient authors, separate hours for the systematic 
survey of the branches of knowledge besides those 
reserved for German in the highest class of the gym- 
nasium, separate hours for analytic geometry alongside 
of algebra, we should tear asunder where we ought to 
join together, and should dissipate the time at our 
disposal. 

Saving time depends on methods better than these, — 
on proficiency in presenting a subject and skill in con- 
ducting recitations. 

Despite the protest here entered, German schools still ad- 
here to the plan of presenting many subjects simultaneously, 
few hours per week being devoted to each. American schools 
are fairly free from the reproach, it being an exception to find 
standard subjects taught less than four or five times per week. 

134. As boys grow older, they may derive a great deal 
of profit from reading and doing many things by them- 
selves. Following their own choice, they develop in 
accordance with their individual traits. We question, 
however, the wisdom of calling for reports on such out- 
side pursuits. Pupils of ordinary capacity should not 
be made ambitious to imitate what they are not fitted 
for; extensive reading must not impair feeling and 
thinking. Breadth of learning is not identical with 
depth, and cannot make up for lack of depth. Instead 
of reading, some engage in the study of a fine art. 
Others are compelled at an early age to give lessons in 
order to support themselves. These learn while teaching. 



I38 INSTRUCTION 

The essentials of a coherent scheme of studies must 
not be dependent on outside reading; they must be 
embraced in the plan of instruction itself. 

135. From beginning to end the course of study 
must be arranged so as to provide for each of the main 
classes of interest. The empirical interest, to be sure, 
is called forth everywhere more easily than any of the 
other kinds. But religious instruction always fosters 
sympathetic interest ; in this it must have the assist- 
ance of history and language study. .^Esthetic culture 
at first depends on the work in the mother-tongue ; 
it is desirable to have, in addition, instruction in singing, 
which at the same time promotes the health of the pupil. 
Later on, the ancient classics contribute their share of 
influence. Training in thinking is afforded by analytic, 
grammatical, and mathematical instruction ; toward the 
end, also, by the study of history, which then becomes 
a search for causes and effects. Cooperation of this 
sort is to be sought everywhere ; the authors to be 
studied must be selected with this end in view, and 
interpreted accordingly. 

If there is a defect in Herbart's scheme of interests as a 
guide to the selection of the studies of the curriculum, it lies 
in the fact that the interests named are too exclusively applied 
to the pupil's individual life, and not enough to his life as a 
member of the social whole. There is an important sense in 
which even natural science, which may be expected to culti- 
vate the speculative interests, is social; for science becomes 



THE PLAN OF INSTRUCTION AS A WHOLE 1 39 

truly significant only when it contributes to the service of men. 
The fact that we now live in an industrial age, that life is pre- 
served from disease in so large a measure, that the well-being 
of every community is advancing so rapidly, that universal edu- 
cation is now a fact rather than a dream, is due to the applica- 
tion of science to human welfare. Consequently, we are not 
restricted to a few humanitarian topics, like history and litera- 
ture, for the development of our social interests. We find that 
every study has its sociological as well as its personal bearings. 
On the other hand, since all studies are both subjective and 
objective in the interests they arouse, it would be possible to 
awaken all the six classes of interest enumerated by teaching 
but a fraction of what we now consider needful in a good cur- 
riculum. It would seem, therefore, that the six classes of in- 
terest, at best, indicate what the quality of our teaching should 
be, not with sufficient accuracy what subjects should be 
taught. The latter is determined quite as much by social as 
by psychological needs. 



SECTION III 
TRAINING 

CHAPTER I 

The Relation of Training to Government and to 
Instruction 

136. Training looks toward the pupil's future. It 
is founded on hope, and shows itself, to begin with, 
in patience. It tempers government, the object of 
which might perhaps be realized more speedily by 
greater rigor. It moderates even instruction in case 
the latter puts too great a strain upon the pupil. But 
it also combines with government as well as instruc- 
tion, and lightens their work. 

Training consists primarily in a certain personal 
attitude, identical if possible with a kind way of 
treating pupils. This implies readiness on the part 
of the teacher to listen to the wishes and utterances 
of the pupil, who, in the midst of strangers, looks to 
his teacher (and to the family in charge of his edu- 
cation) for sympathy and support. But training be- 
comes active where the pupil needs help, especially 

140 



RELATION OF TRAINING TO GOVERNMENT I4I 

help against his own weaknesses and faults, which 
might frustrate the hopes centred in him. 

137. Training insists on becoming conduct; it en- 
courages cheerfulness of disposition. In either case 
it remains within limits compatible with the occupa- 
tions connected with government and instruction. The 
pupil is never to lose sight of the subject on which he 
is engaged; it would be bad if a desire to show off, 
or to amuse himself, should take possession of him 
and cause him to forget his work. 

The wise teacher will be glad to make himself 
personally agreeable to his pupil as long as the con- 
duct of the latter does not call for the opposite treat- 
ment. Supervision grows less irksome in consequence. 
Gentle words forestall, if anything can, all severer 
measures. 

138. The teacher does not look upon the progress 
resulting from his teaching with feelings of indiffer- 
ence. His sympathy, even solicitude it may be, co- 
operates powerfully with the greater or lesser degree 
of interest awakened in the learner. Training, how- 
ever, can never be made a substitute where there is 
no interest or, worse still, where indifference has 
become positive dislike. 

139. In instruction the presence of interest cannot 
be simply assumed; just as little can good intentions 
on the pupil's part always be presupposed in training. 
One thing, however, must be taken for granted : the 



142 TRAINING 

pupil must not have come to feel that the discipline 
is weak and the instruction poor. Any defect in 
either direction must therefore be traced to its source 
and remedied. When pupils feel free to do as they 
please, when they think they have good cause to blame 
the teacher for their failure to make progress, his 
manner will be of no avail; and futile attempts only 
make matters worse. 

140. In some cases training becomes blended with 
government to such an extent that it can scarcely be 
distinguished from the latter. As an example, we may 
mention the large educational institutions conducted 
on a military basis, where the individual pupil is car- 
ried along by the general system, rather than made 
the object of special care. In other cases, training and 
government remain farther apart than is necessary ; 
an instance of this is when a strict father keeps him- 
self at a distance, and leaves the business of training, 
within the prescribed rigid limits, to the tutor of his 
children. At all events, a distinction must be made 
between the two concepts, training and government, 
in order that the teacher may know what he is doing, 
and may notice what is perhaps lacking ; we are justi- 
fied in adding, in order that he may save himself use- 
less effort. For training is not uniformly effectual, 
regardless of circumstances ; the teacher needs to be 
watchful in this matter in order that the opportune 
moment for doing what can be done may not escape him. 



CHAPTER II 

The Aim of Training 

141. While the aim of instruction was rendered 
sufficiently determinate, as we saw above (17, 64, 65), 
by the injunction, ' be perfect, the aim of training, 
which supplements educative instruction, comprehends 
virtue as a whole. Now virtue is an ideal, the approxi- 
mation toward which is denoted by the term morality. 
Again, since, generally speaking, a child passes on 
from mere capacity for culture to culture itself, from 
the indeterminate to fixedness of knowledge, the ap- 
proximation to virtue consists likewise in development 
toward stability. Where conduct in moral affairs vacil- 
lates, there is a deficiency ; where something morally 
hateful becomes confirmed, there is a defect. Exclud- 
ing both, we define the aim of training properly as 
moral strength of character. 

" Training " means such will-training as conduces to the for- 
mation of good character]; "government" means such train- 
ing as conduces to good order. The first is for a permanent, 
the second for an immediate, purpose. In government we can 
appeal both to a positive and a negative means. The positive 
means is interest in a study and the affairs of the schoolroom ; 

143 



144 TRAINING 

the negative means is inhibition of disturbing impulses. As 
Professor James, in his " Talks on Psychology," x points out, this 
inhibition maybe of two sorts, — that of forcible suppression, 
and that of substitution. A teacher who uses negative means 
of inhibiting mischief or inattention, employs command or pun- 
ishment. This method, though sometimes seemingly unavoida- 
ble, often results in mental strain, if not permanent alienation 
between teacher and pupil. The method of substitution at- 
tempts to secure inhibition of the undesirable state of mind by 
giving rise to a set of favorable ideas strong enough to displace 
it. " If, without saying anything about the street disturb- 
ances," which may be distracting the attention of your pupils, 
" you open a counter attraction by starting some very interest- 
ing talk or demonstration yourself, they will altogether forget 
the distracting incident, and, without any effort, follow you 
along." Training, however, has a more difficult task. It 
must succeed in implanting what may be called regulative 
principles in the mind. It must furthermore succeed in estab- 
lishing habits of conduct that will enable the pupil to become 
self-governing. That is, we must establish in him habits of 
feeling and action that will enable him to substitute the higher 
for the lower good, or, at least, instantly to inhibit the tempta- 
tion to evil. This is a task not for a day or a year, but for the 
whole school period. 

142. In succeeding chapters character and moral 
conduct will each have to be differentiated more 
minutely. For our present purpose we need only to 
remind ourselves that the determinateness of the will, 
which is called character, depends not only on will- 

1 James, " Talks on Psychology," p. 193, Henry Holt & Co., New York, 
1899. 



THE AIM OF TRAINING I45 

ing, but also on not willing. The latter is either a 
deficient or a denying willing, which repels or rejects. 
Stern methods of governing, which bar access to every- 
thing that might lead astray, are likely to produce a 
deficient will rather than the permanence of formed 
strength ; with the end of school days, the dreaded 
opportunities arrive after all, and the pupil may 
quickly undergo a change beyond recognition. The 
task of training must therefore be thought of as 
embracing both affirmative willing and rejecting. 



CHAPTER III 

Differentiation of Character 

143. Our will activities result from ideas. Differ- 
ent masses of ideas give rise to different will action ; 
hence the difficulty experienced in harmonizing and 
unifying the manifold acts of will. 

The various groups of ideas do not simply suc- 
ceed one another in consciousness; the relation of 
one to the other may also be that of apperception. 
Apperceiving attention is not confined to sense-per- 
ception (77)', it embraces inner perception as well. 
The process of apperception, however, consists rarely 
or never in mere perceiving. It involves more : one 
mass of ideas exerts a determining influence on the 
other. Now, since each may be the source of will 
action, it happens that often one act of will accepts 
or rejects another. Again, conscious of himself pre- 
eminently as a being that wills, man gives commands 
to himself and decides concerning himself; he seeks 
to acquire self-control. In such efforts he makes him- 
self more and more the object of his own observation. 
That part of his will activity which his self-observa- 
tion reveals to be already in existence, we call the 

146 



DIFFERENTIATION OF CHARACTER 1 47 

objective part of character. To the new will action, 
on the other hand, which first springs into existence 
in and with self-examination, we give the name sub- 
jective part of character. 

The subjective side of character can attain its full 
development only during the years of maturity. Its 
beginnings, however, reach back into boyhood, and 
its normal growth during adolescence is noticeably 
rapid, due allowance being made for variations of kind 
and degree in different individuals. 

The assumption of the unconditional primacy of ideas can 
no longer be seriously entertained. Just as there is an unfold- 
ing of ideas in sensation, perception, apperception, and rational 
insight, so there is an unfolding of our volitional life in impulse, 
conscious will action, and the control of conduct in accordance 
with the regulative principles of moral obligation. Knowledge 
and will doubtless spring from a common root, but they are 
not primarily so related that volition waits on knowledge. 
Impulse is antecedent to idea, while in the last analysis and 
in the highest realm of mind, the actual is subordinate to the 
ideal, the ought is more powerful than the is. In other words, 
there is, as Dr. Harris maintains, a sense in which the will is 
self-determining, even though the extent to which this self- 
active control obtains is uncertain. As Natorp says, 1 " It is 
folly to call upon the weak to be strong, to concentrate con- 
sciousness upon the categorical imperative, so that the inflexible 
demands of the ought shall be complied with." Yet even in 
the weak there is a bar of consciousness or perhaps conscience 
1 Natorp, " Socialpadagogik," p. 9, tr. Fromman, Stuttgart, 1899. 



I48 TRAINING 

before which judgment must be pronounced as to the worthi- 
ness or unworthiness of a given line of conduct. It is the 
function of moral education — and this includes all education 
— to make the weak strong, to strengthen the good impulses, 
to clarify the insight, to accustom the mind to dwell on the 
right set of ideas, to cultivate desirable feelings and interests. 
In this process of moral development, the world of ideas has 
perhaps all the validity claimed for it by Herbart. What is 
here called the " subjective " side of character pertains to that 
regulation of conduct which arises from its examination before 
the bar of consciousness as to its agreement or disagreement 
with the regulative principles of moral obligation. It is that 
advanced stage of development in character in which the mind 
is consciously self-directive. Naturally it is later than the 
" objective " side, where action is more spontaneous, more 
governed by impulses, more subject to hypnotic suggestion ; in 
short, more subordinated to " ideo-motor " activity and less 
governed by reflection. 

144. In view of the very manifold volitional ele- 
ments which the objective foundations of character 
may obviously contain, it will facilitate a survey if we 
distinguish (1) that which the pupil does or does not 
endure willingly, (2) that which he does or does not 
long to have, (3) that which he does or does not like 
to do. Now one, now the other class predominates, 
the strongest controlling and restricting the rest. But 
this restriction is not always an easy matter. Accord- 
ingly, the objective phase of character attains at first 
to inner harmony only with difficulty. 



DIFFERENTIATION OF CHARACTER I49 

145. In consequence of frequent repetitions of simi- 
lar acts of will, general concepts are gradually formed 
in the subjective side of character, concepts compre- 
hending both the similar will actions already present 
under similar circumstances, and the requirements man 
sets up for himself with a view to determining his 
willing one way or another. 

These requirements fall largely within the province 
of prudence ; they pertain to forethought and cautious 
reserve, or, may be, to action, in order that an end 
may be gained by the choice of suitable means. The 
boy wants to be wiser than the child ; the youth wiser 
than either. In this way man seeks to rise above 
himself. 

146. Moral conduct is not always furthered by 
man's effort to surpass himself, so that the teacher's 
task becomes a twofold one, — a watching and direct- 
ing not only of the objective but also of the subjec- 
tive side of character. Temperament, native bent, 
habit, desire, and passion fall under the former; to 
the latter belong the frankness or cunning displayed 
by the pupil, and his habitual method of practical 
reasoning. 

147. As a rule, we may consider it auspicious for 
character building if the pupil, instead of being swayed 
by moods and whims, is constant in his willing. Such 
uniformity as requires no effort we may designate by 
the expression memory of will. 



150 TRAINING 

When a pupil possesses this natural advantage, the 
objective part of his character easily arrives at har- 
mony with itself. He sees that among his many pref- 
erences relative to enduring, having, doing, one im- 
poses restrictions upon the other; that it is often 
necessary to submit and endure in order to have and 
do that which is desired; that pursuits of which he 
is fond do not always yield what he longs to have, and 
so on. When these truths have become sufficiently 
clear to him, he soon comes to a point where he de- 
cides which things he cares about a great deal, and 
which less. He chooses, and choice largely deter- 
mines character, primarily character in its objective 
aspects. 

In the course of the development of the subjective 
part of character, there are formed in succession re- 
solves, maxims, and principles, a process involving sub- 
sumptions, conclusions, and motives. It will cost many 
a struggle before these motives can assert themselves. 

The strength of a character depends on the agree- 
ment between its two parts, the objective and the 
subjective. Where there is want of accord, the char- 
acter is weak. But both must be morally good ; where 
that is not the case, strength ceases to be desirable. 



CHAPTER IV 
Differentiation of Morality 

148. Pupils at once active and kindly are not rare, 
and so far as the ideas of perfection and good-will 
are concerned, give rise to no anxiety, at least not at 
first. With a firm government, moreover, they are 
easily induced to make the golden rule their own, 
and they soon become disposed to yield in contention, 
or rather, become more careful about picking a quarrel. 
Accordingly, with reference also to equity and justice, 
they cause little anxiety. In time they gain mental 
balance, the basis of genuine self-control, and are now 
on the road to inner freedom. In short, they are in 
possession of that which, in the light of fundamental 
ethical ideas, constitutes morality. 

But these constituents of moral conduct are not 
found together in every one, nor do they always re- 
main together. Side by side with the praiseworthy 
traits mentioned, others of an opposite nature fre- 
quently manifest themselves ; it becomes evident that 
the latter are not excluded, and thus the former do 
not determine the character. 

149. In order to exclude the morally evil, the praise- 

<5i 



152 TRAINING 

worthy traits of the objective side of character need 
to be reinforced by the good resolutions of the sub- 
jective part. 

These resolutions, to be worth anything morally, 
must rest on that theoretical judgment whereby the 
pupil through examples comes to distinguish between 
better and worse in willing. As long as his judging 
lacks clearness, energy, and completeness, his resolu- 
tions are without a foundation in his mind and heart. 
They are hardly more than memorized words. 

When, on the other hand, the theoretical judgment 
has become interwoven with the totality of interest 
growing out of experience, social intercourse, and in- 
struction, it creates a warm affection for the good 
wherever found, an affection which influences not 
only all of the pupil's efforts of will, but also the 
manner in which he assimilates what instruction and 
life henceforth offer. 

150. Finally, in order to fortify moral decisions, we 
must avail ourselves of the assistance derived from 
the logical cultivation of maxims, from the systematic 
unification of the same, and from their constant appli- 
cation in life. 

Here the organic connection between character 
growth and the formation of habits of reflection be- 
comes apparent; training is, therefore, obviously un- 
able to accomplish its work except in conjunction 
with instruction. 



DIFFERENTIATION OF MORALITY 1 53 

As soon as a pupil gets a clear notion that a presented ideal 
of conduct promotes the true realization of his own being, he 
is in a position to acquire an interest in reaching that ideal. 
An end, hitherto remote, comes nearer, so that it begins to 
exercise influence upon the conduct that leads to it. Con- 
vention, appeal, or even compulsion from without, are now 
reinforced by the good resolutions arising from the pupil's own 
subjective states. Here we see the interaction of intellectual 
and emotional capacities. The intellect perceives relations, 
thus bringing into consciousness a new ideal ; this distant end 
is mediated inasmuch as desire or feeling impels the pupil to 
enter upon a course of conduct whose stages lead to the ideal 
goal. 1 

1 See Dewey, "Interest as Related to Will," reprint by the National 
Herbart Society for 1899, pp. 15-16. 



CHAPTER V 
Helps in Training 

151. The function of training does not consist, it 
is true, in always restraining and meddling; still less 
in ingrafting the practices of others to take the place 
of the pupil's self-activity. Nevertheless, refusal and 
permission are so much a part of training that the 
pupil becomes far more dependent through training 
than mere government could make him. In govern- 
ment a few rules may be enforced very strictly, while 
in other respects the boy is left to himself; in train- 
ing a similar relaxation of vigilance is scarcely ever 
permissible. Only the strongest grounds for confi- 
dence in a pupil would justify such a course. 

The watchful teacher, even without aiming to do so, 
always shows some degree of approbation or dissatis- 
faction. In many cases this is all that is necessary; 
at times, with sensitive pupils, even this is too much. 
Unaccustomed censure hurts them more than was in- 
tended, while no evidence, however slight, of approval, 
escapes their notice. The teacher should be consider- 
ate in his treatment of such sensibility. 

152. With regard to restraint of freedom, keenness 

i54 



HELPS IN TRAINING 155 

of sensibility is more common. In this connection 
another point also calls for consideration. Freedom 
is of the utmost direct importance to formation of 
character, provided it issues in well-weighed and suc- 
cessful action. For from success springs the confi- 
dence of will whereby desire ripens into decision. 
Where rational action may be looked for, freedom of 
action must be granted ; where the opposite is true, 
the early appearance of a vivid consciousness of self- 
activity is fraught with danger. 

Frequent censure and curtailment of freedom gen- 
erally blunt sensibility, rather more, however, sensi- 
bility to words than to restrictions. Accordingly, 
where repetition of censure is necessary, the language 
may and should vary. On the other hand, the teacher's 
practice with respect to permission and prohibition 
must, where possible, be felt to be permanent, even 
if it were only to confine the granting of the same 
permission to stated times, in accordance with an 
adopted habit. Lack of uniformity, except for obvious 
reasons, impresses pupils as arbitrariness and caprice ; 
fixed limits are endured more easily. 

153. The sensibilities are irritated least by mere 
directions, by daily reminding, by calls at the appointed 
hour, without words of reproach. There are numerous 
details of daily life which must be placed under the 
rule of order, but it would be unwise to make more 
of them than they deserve. Sharp reprimands ought 



I56 TRAINING 

not to be wasted on petty acts of negligence ; they 
are needed for important things. Rules must be 
obeyed ; but a light punishment, one that does not 
wound the feelings, is more suitable here than harsh 
words could be. 

154. Closely related to the foregoing is the cultiva- 
tion of habits that imply endurance, or the bearing of 
deprivation without murmur, or even an inuring to 
positive hardships. In efforts tending in this direction 
it is not sufficient merely to refrain from hurting the 
pupil's feelings ; youthful good humor and love of 
fun must be allowed free expression besides. 

155. Mischievous consequences follow if children 
become accustomed to frequent, unnecessary gratifica- 
tion of desires, or to a round of artificial pleasures 
which include neither work nor exercise. To mention 
only one such consequence, the attendant blunting of 
the sensibilities renders ineffectual numerous minor 
aids of training which may be employed to good 
advantage with unspoiled children. It takes little to 
give children a great variety of pleasures when great 
moderation is a matter of daily practice, and for this 
very reason we need to husband, as it were, our re- 
sources for giving enjoyment, in order that much may 
be accomplished with little. Harmless games, partic- 
ularly, should not be spoiled for children by making 
them feel that they must cultivate the staid behavior 
of adults, Their own ambition fills them only too 



HELPS IN TRAINING 1 57 

early with the desire to appear no longer as chil- 
dren. 

156. The good teacher's watchfulness will extend 
even to petty details, which may indeed prove momen- 
tous enough in his little world. These are not so 
important, however, as the mutual relations of the 
cooperating factors : — 

(1) Relation between Action and Rest. The powers 
of the child must be given something to do, but exer- 
cise is to further their growth and hence must not be 
carried to the point of exhaustion. Now and then a 
boy must convince himself by experience that great 
things may be achieved by strenuous effort, but severe 
tests of this kind must never be permitted to become 
the rule. 

(2) Relatio7i between that which pats doivn and that 
which lifts up. The means of training that humble 
and those that encourage should balance as nearly as 
possible. That which rises of its own accord requires 
no raising up ; but when along the whole course of 
training criticism perceptibly exceeds encouragement, 
it loses its effectiveness and often embitters pupils 
more than it benefits them. 

(3) Relation between Restraint and Freedom. The 
child's surroundings and companionship should afford 
protection against temptation, but his environment 
must be sufficiently ample and rich to prevent much 
longing for that which is outside. 



I58 TRAINING 

157. The outcome is uncertain in the case of those 
aids to training whose effect on the sensibilities of the 
pupils cannot be foreseen. Some of them are, never- 
theless, well worth trying, final judgment being sus- 
pended until after the result has been observed. 
Under this head belong especially the strictly peda- 
gogical punishments and rewards which are patterned 
after the natural consequences of doing or not doing. 
The boy who comes late loses the anticipated enjoy- 
ment; if he destroys his things, he must do without 
them ; over-indulgence is followed by bitter medicine ; 
tattling by removal from the circle in which matters 
requiring discretion are discussed, etc. Such punish- 
ments do not subserve moral improvement, but they 
warn and teach a lesson. To what extent they will do 
so we are often unable to tell beforehand ; a profitable 
reminiscence may be retained at all events. 

The discipline of consequences has been much emphasized 
by Herbert Spencer in his " Education." Its limited useful- 
ness in moral training is pointed out in the foregoing section. 
Acting like a mechanical law, it tends to have the same effect 
upon the feelings that a physical law has. How could one's 
moral sensibilities be impressed by the law of gravitation? 
Nature makes us prudent, but scarcely good. 

158. Sometimes the question is how to set pupils 
on the right track again. They have grown listless, 
for instance, or pursue their tasks with reluctance. 
Here we may profitably resort to a sudden interrup- 



HELPS IN TRAINING 159 

tion by a change of employment. It happens occa- 
sionally that pupils, physically strong, are guilty of 
very bad behavior that persists in spite of admoni- 
tions and punishments, or reappears in another form, 
but which is, after all, at bottom, only the result of 
a state of ill humor that can easily be corrected. An 
unexpected, trifling present, an unusual act of atten- 
tion, will very likely break down the pupil's reserve, 
and when the cause of the trouble has once been 
ascertained, it will be possible to discover a remedy. 
159. In the case of those that are weak physically, 
furtherance of health combined with persevering pa- 
tience is the first and chief duty. But kindness should 
not degenerate into weak indulgence ; on the other 
hand, close supervision must take the place of every 
form of harsh treatment. 



CHAPTER VI 

General Method of Training 

i 60. The distinctions relative to character and 
morality (143-150) furnish the thread of reflection on 
this subject. Concisely stated, the function of train- 
ing is to support, to determine, and to regulate ; to 
keep the pupil, on the whole, in a tranquil and serene 
frame of mind ; to arouse him occasionally by approval 
and reproof ; to remind at the proper moment, and 
to correct faults. A more definite significance will 
be imparted to this brief summary by a comparative 
study and application of the ideas analyzed in the 
preceding chapters. 

While we may accept the statement that the function of 
training is to support, to determine, and to regulate, we must 
not forget to ask : To what end shall it do these things ? The 
answer is, that though the means of moral training are always 
psychological, the ends are always social. Support must hold 
the pupil up to social standards, the directive power of the 
teacher must be exercised for social ends, while all regulation 
of the pupil's activities must point to the same result. There is 
scarcely a virtue to be named that does not find its ultimate 
meaning in its application to conduct as affecting others. This 
is true even in primitive society. In modern urban society 

160 



GENERAL METHOD OF TRAINING l6l 

it is not only true, but vastly important. The discussion in 
Chapter VI is psychological throughout. It must be the pur- 
pose of the annotation to point out the social implications. 

161. First, what is meant by the supporting activity 
of training becomes clearer if we recall the remarks 
made concerning memory of the will (147) as opposed 
to the thoughtlessness usually ascribed to youth. The 
thoughtless boy does not remember past acts of will. 
He stands in need of being supported by training. 
This, further analysis shows, is done in two ways : 
by holding him back from the wrong course, and by 
holding him up to the right course. 

Training presupposes an efficient government and 
the obedience consequent to it. By implication, the 
pupil would not dare to disobey a command if given. 
But commands ought to be employed sparingly, and 
only when inevitable. Imposed too frequently, they 
would preclude self -development ; if given to adoles- 
cents for any but obvious and urgent reasons, obedi- 
ence would not long continue. In short, government 
acts at intervals. But the pupil cannot be permitted 
to live in a state of lawless liberty in the meantime. 
He must remain sensible, be it ever so little, of cer- 
tain limits which he is not allowed to overstep. This 
result is the aim of the supporting function of training. 

But the pupil, even though he be generally obedi- 
ent, does not obey every one, nor under all circum- 
stances, nor always fully, promptly, and without 



l62 TRAINING 

opposition; and when he once fails to comply with 
gentle words, he will be still less ready to yield to 
a severe manner toward himself. Of course, the 
teacher must know on what support he may depend; 
the father needs to have made up his mind how far 
he would be willing to go with coercive measures if 
necessary; the private tutor, to what extent he may 
count on the backing of parents ; the teacher in a 
public institution, how far his course of action would 
be upheld by his superiors. But all this involves an 
appeal from training to government, a step to be 
avoided as much as possible. Most of the unpleas- 
ant cases of intractability, where recourse to govern- 
ment becomes unavoidable, are the gradual result of 
continued weak indulgence. Of such cases no account 
is taken here, arid justly so, since, apart from all else, 
even defiant obstinacy, provided restraint has not been 
cast off utterly, soon breaks down and gives way to 
remorse when it is met by serious and deliberate 
firmness. 

The most obvious ways that the school has of securing a 
good " memory of will " are those by which it enforces the 
well-known school virtues, — regularity, punctuality, silence, and 
industry. It is to the acquisition of these habits that the gov- 
ernment, or discipline, of the school is chiefly directed. Dr. 
Win. T. Harris has pointed out in detail the significance of this 
acquisition in the development of character. 1 It is interesting 

1 Third Year Book of the National Herbart Society. 



GENERAL METHOD OF TRAINING 1 63 

to note how the teacher's personal authority is reinforced by 
social pressure both within and without the school. The Super- 
intendent of a city of thirteen thousand inhabitants reports that 
but 1462 cases of tardiness occurred during a whole school year. 
The pupils of each room are given a brief holiday, from time 
to time, provided nobody in that room is tardy during the stated 
period. This brings an immense social pressure within the 
school to bear in securing prompt attendance. Happening to 
visit the Superintendent's office in a city of some sixty thousand 
people, the writer observed the following scene : A young girl 
of perhaps fourteen years of age, accompanied by her father, 
who was a foreigner, unable to speak English fluently, entered 
the office. The girl began at once to make excuses for her 
brother who was a somewhat confirmed truant, and to beg that 
he might be excused and reinstated. To objections stated by 
the Superintendent, the father with much emotion replied, 
" Oh, Mr. Superintendent, won't you give my boy another 
trial ? " The boy had been ' tried again ' so many times 
that father and daughter were referred to the judge, an officer 
having jurisdiction over such cases. The penalty for persistent 
truancy was attendance at a state reformatory school. This is a 
case in which the authority of the teacher in securing regular- 
ity of attendance was reinforced by the community outside the 
school. The constant pressure of school and community tend 
to establish habits of will memory that serve as an excellent 
foundation for later moral training. 

162. Before training can have within itself the 
power to make up deficiencies in obedience, there 
must be awakened in the pupil a vivid feeling that 
the approval of his teacher is a valuable possession, 
which he would be loath to lose. This the teacher 



164 TRAINING 

will bring about in proportion to the effective and 
welcome share he has in the life of his pupil. He 
must give before he can receive. Furthermore, if 
in his opinion the pupil needs to be turned in a 
different direction, he should not underestimate the 
difficulty of the task before him ; he must proceed 
slowly. 

The initial steps in character training are admirably 
described by Niemeyer in the following words : " The 
teacher's first duty is to study the positively good 
elements in the native character of the being to be 
educated. To preserve these, to strengthen them, 
to transform them into virtue, and to fortify them 
against every danger, should be his incessant en- 
deavor. They should constitute the keynote, as it 
were, of his whole method of education. He should 
look for the good even in the spoilt and vicious pupil, 
and should try to bring it to light, no matter how 
many weeds may have sprung up alongside of it. For 
all subsequent moral education must start from this 
point." 

Although this passage belongs in strictness to the 
discussion on moral education, it is plainly entitled to 
a place here also. An appeal to the pupil's better 
nature promotes ready compliance on his part, espe- 
cially when it is accompanied by those little courtesies 
that go with cultivated social intercourse. It is most 
effective with those who possess at the same time 



GENERAL METHOD OF TRAINING l6$ 

the strongest memory of will, which it will not be 
difficult for the supporting activity of training to 
strengthen still further. 

163. On the other hand, the task of training grows 
arduous in proportion as the pupil fails to bear in 
mind his acts of will. But even here there is a dif- 
ference between capricious unruliness and downright 
flightiness and levity. 

Cases may arise where the impetuosity of the pupil 
challenges the teacher to a kind of combat. Rather 
than accept such a challenge, he will usually find it 
sufficient at first to reprove calmly, to look on quietly, 
to wait until fatigue sets in. The embarrassing situa- 
tions into which such a pupil gets himself will furnish 
occasions for making him feel ashamed, and now it 
remains to be seen whether or not he can be made 
to adopt a more equable behavior. Here and there 
training may in this way even make good the lack 
of government; scarcely, however, for large numbers, 
after unruliness has once begotten vicious habits. 

Combats of any kind between teacher and pupil are to be 
deplored. A good teacher is always strong enough in his men- 
tal superiority, his authority, and his influence as an executive 
to avoid it. Such a contest shows that the pupil has become 
self-conscious in a bad sense. He sets his personality over 
against that of the teacher. If the teacher is so weak as to 
meet him on his own ground, the pupil has a good chance for 
a bad victory — bad for himself, the teacher, and the school. 



l66 TRAINING 

It should be a constant aim of the teacher to supplant intro- 
spection, whether pertaining to feelings or to wilfulness, with 
motor activity. The pupil should always be doing something 
that will promote not only his own best good, but that of the 
school also. Authority should rarely so assert itself as to incite 
or to permit a personal contest with the pupil. It should be 
a strong but almost unseen presupposition of all school affairs. 
Here as elsewhere idleness is the mother of mischief. Lively 
action is sure to banish morbid introspection. 

164. Thoughtlessness in the narrower sense, which 
manifests itself in forgetfulness, in negligence, in 
want of steadiness, and in so-called youthful escapades, 
is a defect in native capacity, and does not admit of 
a radical cure, imperceptible as it may become with 
age, by reason of repeated warnings and diminishing 
susceptibility to external impressions. All the more 
imperative is it in such cases to support by training, 
in order that the evil consequences of this character 
weakness may be prevented, or at least reduced to 
a minimum. For as soon as a thoughtlessly impulsive 
boy comes to take pleasure in his conduct, he will 
set himself against order and industry, and will strive 
to discover the means which promise to secure for 
him a life without restrictions. This danger must 
be forestalled by training. At the beginning, and 
before an evil will has had time to develop, training 
must take the place of will. It must bring home to the 
pupil that of which he had lost sight. To his fluctuat- 



GENERAL METHOD OF TRAINING \6j 

ing and roving impulses it must lend its own external 
firmness and uniformity, which cannot be created at 
once, if at all, within the pupil. 

Here is the proper place for the injunction, not to 
argue with children. " I cannot be too emphatic and 
outspoken in my warning against too much arguing," 
says Caroline Rudolphi; and Schwarz, who quotes 
this passage, adds, " Once is too often." Niemeyer, 
after speaking of the excesses of abnormal liveliness 
and characterizing thoughtlessness, which, he says, 
" causes inattention, a disregard for consequences, and 
hasty actions," continues thus : " All these are not 
faults of the heart; still they are faults that need to 
be amended, and about the only sure educational 
method for amending them is to cultivate right habits. 
Positive punishments wisely chosen may indeed be 
employed as auxiliary means, but only when there are 
evidences of a lack of good intention, or when these 
faults have become ominously prominent." He fur- 
ther advises teachers to insist on this, that pupils 
rectify on the spot what can be rectified, since vague 
recollections prove barren of good results. 

This does not, of course, dispose of the whole 
matter, but we are still discussing training as a sup- 
porting agency, and from this point of view it is 
true that argument should not be substituted for the 
cultivation of habits. 

165. To restrain the lively but thoughtless boy is 



l68 TRAINING 

more difficult than to keep him properly active, for 
the latter is comparatively easy, in some cases at least, 
if instruction excites his interest. The reverse holds 
true for the sluggish boy because an attack has to be 
made on his indolence. Here the stimulation to physi- 
cal exertion through association with wide-awake play- 
mates is the first thing to be secured; and where 
hard lessons cannot as yet be managed successfully, 
lighter occupations will have to suffice. Where slug- 
gishness is traceable to bodily feebleness, improvement 
may be hoped for from sanitary measures and increas- 
ing years. 

The following rule is to be observed everywhere : 
No exercise must exceed the pupil's strength, but that 
which has once been begun must be completed. At 
the least, pupils must not be allowed to drop their 
work as they choose; they must look upon it as a 
whole, however small. 

1 66. That the supporting procedure of training rests 
on the teacher's own bearing — on the uniformity of 
his demeanor — need hardly be said ; but this evenness 
must also stand out clearly before the eyes of the 
pupils. The teacher ought to guard particularly 
against causing the complaint that no one knows how 
to please him, that nothing one may do is done to his 
satisfaction. When matters have come to this pass, 
the first thing pupils do is to watch his moods as they 
might the weather, and to interchange observations. 



GENERAL METHOD OF TRAINING 1 69 

His ugly mood is dreaded; his pleasant mood is taken 
advantage of for importunate requests. The pupils try 
to move the firm centre which is to support them, and 
the faintest signs of success awaken and foster ex- 
travagant hopes. Gradually the after-effects of earlier 
government die out, and a renewal of severe measures 
draws with it a train of new evils. 

Goldsmith in his "Deserted Village" has well portrayed the 
" moody " teacher : — 

"A man severe he was, and stern to view; 
I knew him well, and every truant knew : 
"Well had the boding tremblers learned to trace 
The day's disasters in his morning face; 
Full well they laughed, with counterfeited glee, 
At all his jokes, for many a joke had he; 
Full well the busy whisper, circling round, 
Conveyed the dismal tidings when he frowned." 

167. Second. Training is to exert a determining 
influence; it is to induce the pupil to choose (147). 
Under this head falls the discrimination spoken of 
above between varieties of volitional impulse — the 
will to bear, to have, and to do ; hence also experi- 
ential knowledge of the natural consequences of 
doing or of failure to do (157), for unless these are 
taken into consideration, the manifold of will cannot 
be reduced to harmony. Now the first point to be 
noticed in connection with this aspect of training is 
that the teacher does not choose for the pupil. The 
pupil himself must choose, for it is his own character 



170 TRAINING 

that is to be determined. He must himself experi- 
ence a part, although only the smallest part, of that 
which is desirable or harmful. That the flame burns, 
that a pin pricks, that a fall or knock hurts, this les- 
son even the little child must learn; and similar ex- 
periences must be gained later, provided they do not 
carry the pupil to the verge of serious danger. Every- 
thing essential has been accomplished if, in conse- 
quence of actual experiences confirming the teacher's 
words of warning, the pupil believes other warnings 
without waiting for confirmation. 

Not second in importance to the act of choosing is the con- 
tent of the choice. If conduct must have a social outcome, all 
the activities of the school will focus at this point. In order to 
have rational choice there must be first of all social intelligence. 
This it is the function of instruction to develop. According to a 
well-known doctrine of Herbart, it is the chief duty of instruction 
to make a progressive revelation to the pupil of the ethical 
world, in order that his puny will may gradually be reinforced 
by race experience. The instruments for this revelation are 
the studies on the one hand, and the conduct of the school 
according to social principles on the other. In the second 
place, that the ethical choice may truly express the pupil's 
inward state, rather than his outward constraint, it must grow 
out of his insight as suffused by his social responsiveness to 
ethical ideas. In other words, his disposition should confirm 
his intellectual perception of the right line of conduct. This 
raises the whole matter of interest as related to will. 1 Here 

1 See Dr. John Dewey, " Interest as Related to Will," National Herbart 
Society, reprint for 1899. 



GENERAL METHOD OF TRAINING 171 

again natural, spontaneous, almost unconscious attitude is vastly 
superior to morbid introspection, no matter how ' good ' the 
pupil's disposition may prove to be. A boy should not have 
to ' reflect ' as to whether he will rob a bird's nest or not. 

168. Pleasure and pain arise so largely out of social 
relations that the pupil must grow up amidst a social 
environment in order to become somewhat acquainted 
with his natural place among men. This requirement 
gives rise accordingly to solicitous precautions against 
a bad example and rudeness. On the other hand, a 
boy's companions should not be chosen with such 
anxious care as if the intention were to spare him the 
feeling of pressure which in all human society is gen- 
erated by the efforts and counter-efforts of men. Too 
great complaisance on the part of playmates causes 
delusions as to the actual conditions of life. 

Again, society and seclusion must alternate. The 
social current is not to carry everything else along 
with it, and to become more powerful than education. 
Even the boy, and much more the youth, must learn 
to be alone, and to fill up his time profitably. 

Unbroken association of the child with his mates tends to 
bring him too exclusively under the influence of imitation and 
of acting impulsively upon those forms of unreasoning sugges- 
tion which sway the crowd, the gang, and the mob. To quote 
Professor Baldwin : x " The characteristics of the social sugges- 
tions upon which the crowd act show them to be strictly sug- 

1 " Social and Ethical Interpretations," pp. 236-237. 



172 TRAINING 

gestions. They are not truths, nor arguments, nor insights, nor 
inventions. . . . The suggestible mind has very well known 
marks. Balzac hit off one of them in ' Eugenie Grandet ' in 
the question, ' Can it be that collectively man has no memory? ' 
We might go through the list of mental functions asking the 
same question of them one by one. Has man collectively no 
thought, no sense of values, no deliberation, no self-control, no 
responsibility, no conscience, no will, no motive, no purpose? 
And the answer to each question would be the same, No, he 
has none. The suggestible consciousness is the consciousness 
that has no past, no future, no height, no depth, no develop- 
ment, no reference to anything ; it is only in and out. It 
takes in and it acts out — that is all there is to it." It is here 
that we find the source of the youthful escapade so common to 
street, school, and college, as well as of the adult deeds of 
diabolism that have so often shocked the moral sense of the 
American people. The child needs frequent opportunities to 
be alone, when he can "come to himself" as a responsible 
person. Even where the association with his mates is perfectly 
innocent, there is a growing responsiveness to mere suggestion. 
This tendency is corrected by attention to individual tasks 
and responsibilities. 

169. By living alternately with his equals in age 
and with adults, the pupil grows familiar with diverse 
standards of honor. To unite these, and to subordi- 
nate one to the other in a proper manner, will prove 
an easy or a difficult part of training, according to the 
smaller or greater gap between the value set on brute 
force on the one hand, and the demand for good- 
breeding, as well as regard for talent and knowledge, 



GENERAL METHOD OF TRAINING 173 

on the other. The main thing is not to foster ambition 
artificially, though care must be taken at the same time 
to refrain from crushing out a natural and true self- 
esteem. Usually, however, those interested in the 
progress of a pupil stand in need themselves of guard- 
ing against the self-deception due to extravagant hopes. 
By giving themselves up to these, they involuntarily 
turn flatterers, and push the boy, and the young man 
still more, beyond the position he is able to maintain. 
Bitter experiences follow. 

The tendency to an abnormal overestimation of the value of 
physical excellence is seen in the attitude of the modern college 
toward athletics. Doubtless the public as a whole still underesti- 
mates th e importance of fine physical development. Our modern 
life with its nerve-racking occupation will shatter the efficiency 
of large portions of the race, unless the physical organism is so 
developed as to withstand the strain. This, if true of men, is 
still more true of women, who are now undertaking many new 
lines of exhausting labor, not the easiest of which is teaching. 
But the college student is prone to adore muscle. The suc- 
cessful athlete is, for a brief period, praised, petted, and adver- 
tised far more than is the ablest student or professor in the 
institution. Scarcely do the noblest achievements of science 
or philanthropy receive so much notice as a successful full-back 
on a foot-ball team. The athlete goes up indeed like a rocket, 
startling the ear and dazzling the eye for a moment — then 
oblivion, or deserved obscurity. The teacher must endeavor 
to displace this false estimate of values by one more true if less 
exciting. 



174 TRAINING 

170. The regard for the value of things in their 
relation to the ordinary necessities of life develops 
somewhat more slowly than the natural sense of honor. 
This is true especially of money, which at first boys 
rarely know how to use. Instead of saying, either 
this or that, which a fixed sum will buy, the boy falls 
a victim to the deception that lurks in saying, this and 
that. In this respect also the pupil needs to gain 
experience on a small scale ; he must, moreover, come 
to know the value of objects last, not merely in terms 
of money, but also in terms of the inconvenience of 
doing without them. Warnings against petty closeness 
are seldom necessary; not infrequently, however, a 
boy follows common talk, and it may happen that he 
practises parsimony by imitation, and squanders in 
obedience to his own impulses. Where faults of this 
sort are not conquered by the pupil's own sense of 
honor, they fall within the province of moral education. 

A modern device for teaching children the value of money, 
and especially the usefulness of saving it, is the institution of 
school savings banks. Here the pupil develops his instincts 
for accumulation. At the same time he learns to inhibit 
his often inordinate fondness for spending. If indulgence to 
self, accompanied by penuriousness toward others, is permitted 
to grow into a habit in childhood and youth, it becomes a 
source of much unhappiness in later family life. Wife and 
children are often victims of this kind of selfishness. Now 
that women are in the main the teachers of children, they 
should have the interest of their sex sufficiently at heart to 



GENERAL METHOD OF TRAINING 1/5 

inculcate suitable ideals and habits respecting the gathering 
and spending of money. No form of selfishness is so ob- 
noxious as self-indulgence at the expense of those who have a 
natural right to an equitable share of what is produced. The 
' meanness ' of such conduct if constantly unveiled will effect 
its own cure. 

171. When experience has taught the pupil to what 
extent he must endure or need not endure the pressure 
of human society, and what honors, objects, enjoy- 
ments, he can have' or must do without, the question 
arises : How does he connect all this with the pursuits 
which attract or repel him ? The thoughtful pupil 
soon realizes, without being told, that one thing often 
makes another possible, that one thing involves or con- 
ditions another. But upon the thoughtless boy this 
truth does not impress itself with sufficient force ; 
consequently, the teacher has to help him to deepen 
that impression, because a man without a settled mind 
regarding these matters remains devoid of character. 

Yet a lack of fixedness is often desirable rather than 
otherwise — a statement applying to those pupils whose 
intellectual interests it is the business of instruction 
to awaken, or whose moral and religious culture are 
as yet in a backward state. The objective part of 
character (142) should not become fixed too soon ; 
and very often a large part of the value of training 
consists in retarding this process. Such an end is 
subserved by the restraint under which the pupil is 



176 TRAINING 

kept by the subordinate position assigned to him in 
conformity with his age, and particularly by the refu- 
sal of freedom to act without permission, and accord- 
ing to his own inclination (152). The theoretical 
judgment of will relations (149) is frequently late in 
maturing, or remains weak in comparison with the 
impression produced by the experiences mentioned. 
In that case moral ardor is also wanting, and if the 
pupil were given liberty to do as he chose, his character 
would be formed, to be sure, but in the wrong way. 
Rather would it be better to encourage juvenile amuse- 
ments, and even boyish games, beyond the usual age 
limit. 

172. Third. Regulative training begins its work 
with the first appearance of the subjective part of char- 
acter (143). Foi" an earlier period the rule not to argue 
with children holds good (164); that is, it holds good as 
long as we can get along with it. That stage, however, 
is passed when the pupil begins to reason for himself ; 
in other words, when his thinking has acquired such 
consecutiveness that his thoughts no longer come and 
go as momentary fancies, but attain to permanency and 
coherence. Reasoning processes of this sort ought 
not to be left to themselves, nor can they be repressed 
by dictatorial decrees. The educator must now enter 
into his pupil's trains of reflection, must argue with 
him and prevent further development in the wrong 
direction. 



GENERAL METHOD OF TRAINING 177 

The tendency to set up rules reveals itself early ; for 
example, in the games of children. Commands as to 
what to do are given every moment, only these im- 
peratives are imperfectly obeyed and often changed. 
Neither is there lack of original, childish resolutions ; 
but they can mean little so long as they do not remain 
the same. It is very different when they acquire 
stability, when means and ends combine into plans, 
when execution is attempted under difficulties, and 
finally when these resolves are thought in the forms 
of general concepts, thereby laying claim to validity 
in possible future instances, and becoming thus trans- 
formed into maxims. 

173. The wise forethought essential to regulative 
training requires in the first place that the teacher shall 
rather tolerate an inconvenient discussion than check 
a frank expression of opinion, provided the objections 
of the pupil are indubitably sincere, and his vanity, we 
will say, is not flattered too much by the unexpected 
consideration accorded to his remarks. The same 
foresight is to be exercised in cases where it proves 
impossible to convince the pupil at once. Here the 
final judgment, instead of being insisted upon, should 
rather be postponed ; it will always be easy to point 
out to the pupil his lack of adequate knowledge and 
to refer him to future studies. The positiveness that 
usually characterizes the assertions of boys and young 
men, generally has its roots in their great ignorance. 



178 TRAINING 

They have not the least inkling of how many opinions 
have been held and disputed. Instruction will gradu- 
ally cure them of their excessive self-confidence. 

Only in a pure despotism would the enforcement of unques- 
tioning obedience to authority be admissible. No country 
aspiring to political liberty could tolerate such a system. Even 
if all political considerations were dismissed, the development 
of subjective character alone would demand a condemnation 
of such a method. But in a country like ours, where men 
are both personally and politically self-governing, education to 
leadership is not second to education to obedience. There 
comes a time, therefore, when argument is in place, provided 
its purpose is to clarify the pupil's insight into prudence or 
duty. It will not be too much to insist upon obedience with- 
out argument with all pupils so far as the ordinary school 
virtues — regularity, punctuality, silence, and industry — are 
concerned. Old and young can see their necessity. When it 
comes to the more intricate phases of conduct, the grounds 
for authority, if it is still exercised, may be revealed through 
dialogue. It is the constant effort of training to establish 
regulative principles in the minds of the older pupils, so that 
within the range of their capacity they may become self-gov- 
erning. In other words, the moral plateaus of Kant are to be 
attained, not at a bound, but by a gradual progress in moral 
autonomy. Herein we see the superiority of Herbart's con- 
ception of moral training. What Kant gave up as an unsolva- 
ble problem, can be seen to be only a natural process. Says 
Kant, " How a law can of itself directly determine the will is 
for human reason an insoluble problem, for it is identical with 
the problem how a free will is possible." l The difficulty with 
1 " Selections," p. 284. 



GENERAL METHOD OF TRAINING 1 79 

Kant's theory was that he admitted no psychological means 
for attaining the free directive power of the mind. He could 
only say to the child : " You are free ; be free. You are morally 
autonomous ; exercise your power ; be a free, self-governing 
citizen." Kant regarded natural impulses, emotions, desires, 
pleasures, interests, as impure, hence to be rejected. They 
are indeed to be rejected as the final ends of character, but 
what Kant did not recognize is that they are the psychological 
means for attaining character. Primarily these feelings, far from 
being radically bad, as he thought, are radically good, since 
they help to furnish the necessary conditions of survival, both 
for the individual and for the race. Hunger, fear, courage, 
combativeness, prudence, sexual instinct, inquisitiveness, love 
of adornment, frugality, and a hundred other elemental passions 
have preserved the race from destruction in the past. A new 
set of social and intellectual impulses will in the future pro- 
vide the instruments of survival, now that the field of evolution 
is transported from the jungle to the city. It is through intel- 
lectual insights that new ideals are formulated \ it is through 
these elemental feelings that the active powers of the mind are 
stirred up to motor efficiency for their realization. From being 
biological means for physical survival, the feelings of man have 
now become psychological means for civic survival. Psycho- 
logically, therefore, men are not born free ; they become free. 
To become free they must have opportunity to exercise free- 
dom ; at first within definite but widening limits while they are 
under the tuition of the school ; later within the limits set by 
civil society; at last absolutely, when they have recognized that 
what is rational law in society is the law of their own being. 

174. But the matter of greatest importance from the 
point of view of training is consistency or inconsistency 



l80 TRAINING 

of action. One who lightly sets up maxims must be 
made to feel the difficulty of living up to them. In 
this way a mirror is held up to the pupils, partly in 
order to put to rout untenable maxims, and partly to 
reinforce valid principles. 

Among the untenable maxims we include also those 
which, although in accord with prudence, would offend 
against morality. If the pupil does not see already 
that they cannot be maintained, the application, by 
exhibiting their objectionable consequences, must bring 
to light their true character. 

175. Regulative training often calls for rousing 
words from the teacher. He has to remind the pupil 
of happenings in the past and predict future conse- 
quences in case his faults should continue; he has 
to induce him to look within himself for the purpose 
of tracing the causal connection of his actions to its 
source. If, however, this was done earlier, with a view 
to moral education, no long speeches are now needed. 
Moreover, the teacher's remarks become calmer and 
briefer the more effective they have been, the more 
he is justified in expecting independent judgment on 
the part of the pupil, and finally the more fully the 
latter has entered upon that period during which he 
looks about him to observe the words and actions of 
strangers. For, at the time when he has begun to 
compare the new with the old, his receptivity for 
the old is very weak, and soon vanishes completely; 



GENERAL METHOD OF TRAINING 151 

unless, indeed, the old had been deeply impressed 
beforehand. 

The purpose of the " rousing word " is to stimulate the mind 
to exercise its dynamic force to moral ends. The pupil must 
not be permitted to assume the attitude of negation, or to be 
a mere passive observer, or an innocent, devoid alike of power 
and significance, but he must be roused into a responsible 
character, an efficient participant in life's activities. Success- 
ful appeal may be made to insights already acquired, but theo- 
retically held ; to dispositions implanted, but not yet actively 
exercised ; to the application of old habits to new uses. Even 
where appeal must be made against objectionable conduct, it 
is better to apply the "inhibition of substitution" to that of 
" negation." x While protesting against the evil, point the way 
to the right road. 

176. Fourth. The pupil is to be kept in a quiet 
frame of mind ; his intellect in a state suitable for 
clear apprehension. To outbursts of passion this 
applies absolutely ; not so generally to emotions. 
Above all, tranquillity is the condition for the for- 
mation of theoretical judgments and hence also, 
although not exclusively so, for laying the founda- 
tion of morality. 

Every desire may develop into passion, if the soul 
is so often and so long in a desiring state that 
thoughts become focussed in the object longed for, 
whereby plans shape themselves, hopes arise, and ill- 

1 James, "Talks on Psychology," p. 192. 



1 82 TRAINING 

will toward others strikes root. Accordingly, watchful 
attention must be given to all persistent and recurrent 
desires. 

177. The most usual desires are those which arise 
from the physical need of food and of bodily activity. 
Now the first step to take is, while guarding against 
excess, to satisfy these natural impulses in order to 
subdue the unruliness springing from unsatisfied 
cravings. We ought not to permit hunger to tempt 
a boy to steal, nor encourage truancy by making him 
sit still too long. This warning is not superfluous. 
Such things happen even in families where less 
irrational practices might be expected. Over-indul- 
gence, to be sure, is of far more frequent occurrence. 

When the natural wants have lost their sting, a 
positive and irrevocable refusal must be opposed to 
further desires. With it should be combined some 
occupation capable of diverting the attention. 

If the object which continues to excite desire can 
be removed, all the better. In one's own home this 
is more often practicable, and more necessary as well, 
than in that of strangers. If the object cannot be 
removed, gratification may be put off until some future 
time. The foregoing statement may be illustrated 
by reference to the eating of fruit from the tree. An 
unconditional prohibition carries with it a dangerous 
temptation to disobedience, while unconditional per- 
mission would be equally inadmissible on account of 



GENERAL METHOD OF TRAINING 1 83 

the plucking of green fruit, let alone the possible 
injury to the orchards of others. 

Analogy will suggest many similar applications of 
the rule given. 

178. Again, children must be watched at their 
games. The more free play of the imagination we 
discover, and the more change there is, the less cause 
for concern. But when the same game is frequently 
repeated according to the same fixed rules, when a 
species of study is devoted to it in order to attain 
special proficiency, passions may be generated, such, 
for instance, as an excessive fondness for playing at 
cards, even where no stakes are involved. Gambling 
must be forbidden entirely, and in case compliance 
with this prohibition is doubtful, obedience must be 
secured by watchful supervision. 

To what end shall a teacher watch the games of children ? 
To prevent the bullying of the weak by the strong, to see that 
unfairness does not creep in, to ward off vulgarity and profanity 
— these and similar purposes will be in the mind of the teacher. 
One of the chief functions of play, however, is to cultivate social 
efficiency. This has two aspects, willingness to cooperate with 
a group and ability to lead a group. It is necessary that there 
should be alternation of leadership and cooperation. If one 
child is allowed to lead all the time, he becomes overbearing ; 
if another is always compelled to follow, he becomes subservi- 
ent. Each has a one-sided development. Without discourag- 
ing unduly natural capacity for leadership, it is well for the 
teacher quietly to see to it that each child has his chance, both 



184 TRAINING 

to lead and to follow. Just as the kindergarten utilizes play to 
simulate the occupations of men, arousing sympathy with them 
and respect for them, so the school may by proper modifica- 
tion make the numerous group games, in which children de- 
light, a potent means for securing cooperative habits and a 
general aptitude for social activities. Not a little attention 
is now paid to the various forms of children's play. This is 
especially true of such publications as the Pedagogical Semi- 
nary, published at Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts. 

179. An excellent means to avert the dangers con- 
nected with passionate tendencies is to engage in the 
acquisition of one of the fine arts, say music or draw- 
ing, even though there should be no more than a 
modicum of talent. The student must be given to 
understand, however, that he is not to take up the 
study of several musical instruments at once, nor give 
himself up to distracting attempts in sundry branches 
of pictorial representation. On the contrary, he is 
to strive consistently for proficiency in one definite 
direction. 

In the total absence of aptitude we may avail our- 
selves of preferences of one kind or other, such as 
fondness for collecting plants or shells, for work in 
papier-mache, for joinery, for gardening even, etc. 

Poetical talent, highly desirable in itself, neverthe- 
less demands a solid counterweight in the shape of 
serious scholarly effort; for the young poet sets up 
claims that are likely to prove dangerous if he becomes 
absorbed in them. 



GENERAL METHOD OF TRAINING 1 85 

The importance of this suggestion can hardly be overesti- 
mated. It is a case of the permanent inhibition of a host of 
possible evil tendencies by substitution. The youth who can 
turn with pleasure to his violin at every spare moment, never 
seriously misses the companionship of his mates. He has, 
moreover, a never failing source of enjoyment when there is 
nothing to interfere with his happiness, and an equally inex- 
haustible source of consolation when the waves of life are 
rough. 

180. Projects springing from passionate impulses, 
and betraying their existence by their interference 
with order, diligence, and the distribution of time, 
must be resolutely thwarted. This step is rendered 
all the more urgent when several share in the same 
plan, above all when ostentation, party spirit, and 
rivalry enter as impelling factors. Such things must 
not be allowed to gain ground ; they very quickly 
vitiate the soil which education has been at such 
pains to prepare for tillage. 

181. The passions being kept at a distance, the suc- 
cessful grounding of the pupil in morality depends in 
general on the manner in which instruction cooperates 
with his occupations. The branch of instruction pri- 
marily most important in this respect is religious 
instruction. The most immediate source, however, 
of the development of disposition is found in the 
pupil's social environment, and it becomes the busi- 
ness of training to cultivate a right spirit or disposi- 



1 86 TRAINING 

tion. Let us, therefore, take up the practical ideas 
one by one. 

England and Germany are a unit in insisting upon the ne- 
cessity of religious instruction in the schools. Half the ele- 
mentary schools of the former country are in charge of the 
Church of England, five per cent are controlled by Roman 
Catholics, three per cent by Wesleyans, and some forty-two 
per cent by public boards of education. All of these schools 
are subsidized by the state, yet all, with few exceptions, give 
religious instruction. In Germany there are but two strong 
religious organizations — the Roman Catholic Church, mostly at 
the south, and the Lutheran, mostly at the north. The state 
establishes all schools, furnishing most of the funds for sustain- 
ing them and controlling their administration in large meas- 
ure ; yet the morning hour of the day is devoted to instruction 
in religion. Not so in the United States. Here, religious 
teaching is, to all appearances, permanently excluded from 
the public schools. In this condition of affairs there is but 
one resource : we must the more diligently insist upon those 
things that reflect the content of religion. That is, we must 
teach children to live in close cooperative union with their fel- 
lows. The subjective side of this training is portrayed in the 
sections that follow, where the transformation of ethical in- 
sights into ethical habits is discussed. 

182. To speak of strife first, which cannot easily 
be wholly prevented among children, and which is 
present to their minds, at least as a possibility, self- 
help against unexpected bodily assaults cannot be 
forbidden. A determined self-defence is rather to be 
recommended, but self-defence paired with a merci- 



GENERAL METHOD OF TRAINING 1 87 

ful treatment of one's assailant. On the other hand, 
it is necessary to prohibit absolutely any arbitrary 
appropriation of objects, even though these objects 
should consist of ownerless or discarded trifles. No 
one must imagine that his mere pleasure is a law unto 
others. On the contrary, children ought to get used 
to limitations on ownership. That which has been 
given them for a certain purpose is to be used for that 
purpose alone, and must be taken care of with that 
purpose in view.- Promises among children should 
not lightly be declared void, however foolish and im- 
possible of fulfilment. The boy who, by a hasty 
promise, puts himself in an embarrassing position 
must be made conscious of the fact. Let his per- 
plexity serve as a warning for the future. But over- 
hasty promises are to be accepted as little as they are 
to be made; and here is where we have to begin in 
untying the knots in which children occasionally en- 
tangle themselves. 

It is not undesirable that pupils by their own acts 
furnish themselves with a few keenly-felt instances 
of complicated questions of rights. But pleasure in 
wrangling must be discountenanced ; the pupils should 
learn to prevent and to avoid contention. They may 
gain enough familiarity with it to realize that it gives 
displeasure. 

183. At this point two paths open to our reflection. 
In the first place, contention pleases children because 



1 88 TRAINING 

it implies strength; in seeking it they are, as a rule, 
merely giving vent to excess of animal spirits. The 
outlet in this direction we must block, but we must fur- 
nish another elsewhere. Gymnastic exercises, too, are 
exhibitions of strength ; emulation, which is not con- 
tention, is a welcome feature of sport and play. Mental 
activity likewise affords suitable opportunities for ex- 
celling ; it also provides proper occasions for making 
comparisons; but relative excellence, children must 
understand distinctly, is not to be advanced by them 
as a basis for claims. Where the question is one of 
degree of attainment, — therefore one of perfice te, — 
the pupil is supplied with a practically useful standard 
by his own progress and retrogression. To hold up 
one pupil as a model for another to follow awakens 
envy ; it will be' much better, instead, to make allow- 
ances where a weak pupil cannot do more than he 
is actually doing. 

In all the ages of the past men have been the teachers of 
boys. Being men, they have naturally taken the man's atti- 
tude toward youthful conduct. When one boy is gratuitously 
assaulted by another, they have upheld a sturdy self-defence as 
belonging to self-respect. In their eyes an unsuccessful defence 
is better than a cowardly retreat. With the advent of women 
as the teachers of boys it is natural that the doctrine of passive 
non-resistance should be emphasized. When women were only 
the physical mothers of the race, there was no danger of the 
decay of virility, but now that they have become the intellec- 
tual mothers as well, there may be such a danger. It is gen- 



GENERAL METHOD OF TRAINING I 89 

erally conceded that the English boys' schools, like Eton, 
Harrow, and Rugby, have been the best English conservers of 
independent manhood, for there every boy stood on his own 
merits, having to fight his own battles, being responsible for 
his own conduct, and at the same time living under a high 
code of boyish honor. In our own public schools, where no 
such esprit de corps is possible, and where the doctrine of 
peace at any price is likely to be insisted upon, it is possible 
that there may be a distinct decline of virility in the boys. 
Such a result would be deplorable ; it would work to the 
detriment of public .education, and would decrease in public 
estimation the value of woman's services in the schoolroom. 
While discouraging strife, a teacher may, by a word of approval 
or excuse, justify an exercise of primitive defence of the person 
against unwarranted assault. Manly social games, like foot- 
ball, basket-ball, base-ball, are our best resources in develop- 
ing those phases of character that are closely associated with 
motor efficiency. Here under proper guidance, self-control, 
sense of power and efficiency, courage, and almost every char- 
acteristic of virility may be happily developed. That fore- 
thought and supervision are needed is most true, else unlovely 
traits of character may easily get the upper hand. 

184. The second of the two ways alluded to takes 
us from the idea of rights to that of equity. Strife 
is displeasing, but revenge still more, notwithstanding 
the truth of the saying : what is fair for one is fair for 
another. Children may indeed exercise their ethical 
acumen by trying to determine how much one deserves 
to suffer or to receive at the hands of others for the 
liberties he has taken or the self-restraint he has prac- 



I9O TRAINING 

tised, but they are not to arrogate to themselves the 
function of inflicting punishments or of bestowing re- 
wards. Without surrendering their own insight, they 
must in this respect submit willingly to the authority 
of their superiors. 

A similar course is to be pursued with reference to 
the distribution of presents, enjoyments, and marks of 
approval. To avoid giving the appearance of favor- 
itism, the teacher should not, except for very good rea- 
sons, depart from the principle of equal division ; but, 
on the other hand, he should refuse to accord to the 
pupils a right to these free gifts. While permitting 
them to have an opinion on the appropriateness of a 
greater or smaller share, he will properly deny them 
any right to demand by virtue of this opinion. 

185. In cases deeply engaging the children's own 
sense of justice and equity, complaisance and readiness 
to yield should not be exacted on the spot. Children 
must have time to get to the end of their thoughts, 
and to weary of what is often very fruitless brooding, 
before they realize that to yield is after all a necessity, 
and hence in no sense a matter of magnanimous choice. 
At some future time they may be reminded that their 
path would have been smoother if the sentiment of 
good-will had been in control from the beginning and 
had arbitrated the dispute, or rather had prevented 
it entirely. 

Good-will is to be revered everywhere as higher than 



GENERAL METHOD OF TRAINING ICjI 

right ; still the latter must be represented as some- 
thing that cannot be set aside with impunity, unless 
it be by common agreement ; that is, in consequence 
of the consent of the holders of rights. 

There are two distinct aspects to good- will, — the benevolent, 
and the cooperative or social. The well-known story of the 
Jericho Road illustrates the first. He is the good neighbor 
who rescues the life of the man who has been assaulted by the 
way. But social good-will is more than benevolence ; it is 
cooperation for the accomplishment of common purposes. 
Among farmers it means mutual care to prevent aggression, 
because of unruly stock or bad fences ; it involves combined 
efforts for good schools, good roads, public libraries, educa- 
tional agencies for promoting successful farming, associations 
for promoting successful pleasures. In cities social good-will 
means cooperation for paving and lighting streets, for the sup- 
pression of crime, for furnishing good water and efficient sew- 
erage, for defence against fire, for rapid transit, besides the 
myriad agencies for promoting the mental, moral, and spiritual 
welfare of the people. A man in a city needs to be a good 
neighbor to everybody, even though he may know personally 
but one in a million. In other words, the civic man must be a 
brother, not only to him who falls among thieves, but to him 
who lives among them ; not only to his brother in adversity, 
but also to his brother in prosperity. 

186. Finally, the degrees of difference among older 
boys, and especially among young men, with respect 
to the nearness with which they approach the still 
distant realization of the idea of inner freedom, are, 
as a rule, sufficiently marked to be patent to all. 



192 TRAINING 

The superior excellence of those distinguished for 
steady and rational conduct is usually dwelt on by the 
teacher rather too much than too little; children are 
themselves too keen in observing each other's short- 
comings not to see how far behind the best some are. 
We ought, therefore, rather to avoid stimulating in 
children the tendency to belittle others, than to turn 
their attention to that which does not escape them 
anyway. 

187. The bad conduct of adults near to the pupils 
will not, of course, be exposed by the teacher ; and 
if publicly known, the example set will repel more 
than allure, so long as self-interest does not prompt 
imitation or a search for excuses. But we need not 
entertain much hope either that a worthy example 
will be followed ; youth is too prone to regard rectitude 
as a matter of course. Hence it will not be super- 
fluous to call special attention to right conduct, and 
to give expression to the esteem which is its due. 
This applies particularly to the time when a growing 
boy's outlook over society widens, and he begins to 
compare many things whose false glitter might deceive 
him. 

There are many aspects of inner freedom. It is possible for 
a narrow-minded man to live in perfect tranquillity, so far as 
his conscience is concerned. Even if one lived true to Kant's 
categorical imperative, which says, " So act that the maxims, 
or rules, of your conduct might, through your own will, become 



GENERAL METHOD OF TRAINING 193 

universal laws," it would still be possible for one to have a 
mind at peace with itself while doing things that a higher code 
of morality would forbid. For example, suppose I am an 
American Indian, and the question arises, Shall I torture my 
enemies ? Of course : do not the traditions of my tribe pre- 
scribe it ? This simply means that our ideals of conduct grow 
out of our environment ; they are social in their genesis. This 
truth shows the infinite importance of making instruction reveal 
clearly the best ideals of religion and civilization, for there may 
be as much inward freedom, or good conscience, in the slums 
as in the wealthy districts of the city. Subjective peace of 
mind may mean much or little. A murderer may sleep as 
soundly as a missionary, but a man of high ideals is whipped 
as with scorpions, if his conduct be base. He feels that his 
higher self is outraged ; he has no peace except through re- 
pentance, restitution, and reform. 

188. Fifth. The pupil's mind, we will suppose, 
has been properly directed, partly through the social 
relations obtaining among children, partly through 
examples and instruction, to the requirements of the 
various moral ideas, and he has learned accordingly 
to discriminate with some keenness between will re- 
lations. Now the time has arrived for moral educa- 
tion in the strict sense. For we cannot leave it to 
chance whether our young charges will, of their own 
initiative, synthesize for themselves noble actions on 
the one hand and base actions on the other, whether 
they will take time to reflect, and will, each for him- 
self, apply the lessons taught. On the contrary, they 



194 TRAINING 

all have to be told, each one individually has to be told, 
truths that no one is wont to hear with pleasure. The 
more thoroughly the teacher knows his pupils, the 
better. By sh jwing them that he divines their thoughts, 
he supplies them with the most effectual incentive to 
self-observation. Now the basis of what is commonly 
known as moralizing is furnished by a retrospective 
view of the pupil's conduct for some time past, by 
references to influences formerly at work within him, 
and by an analysis of his good and bad qualities. 
Such teaching is by no means to be condemned, nor 
even to be regarded as superfluous. In its proper 
place it is absolutely essential. Many, it is true, grow 
up without ever having heard a serious word of 
deserved censure, but no one ought to grow up in 
that way. 

189. Only praise and censure are thought of here, 
not harsh words, much less harsh treatment. Repri- 
mands and punishments following upon single acts are 
something different; they, too, may lead to moral 
reflections, but must first have become things of the 
past. Moral improvement is not brought about by 
the constraint of government, nor is it the result of 
those pedagogical punishments which warn the pupil 
and sharpen his wits by means of the natural con- 
sequences of actions (157). But it is brought about 
through the imitation of the language of conscience 
and of genuine honor, as seen in impartial spectators. 



GENERAL METHOD OF TRAINING 195 

Moreover, this does not exclude consideration of the 
excuses which every one readily finds in his heart. 
But while due allowance is made for mitigating cir- 
cumstances, the pupil is cautioned against relying on 
them in future. 

190. Ordinarily youth deserves neither strong com- 
mendation nor severe criticism, and it is well to guard 
carefully against exaggeration in either direction, if 
for no other reason than merely this, that exaggera- 
tion either detracts- from effectiveness, or else causes, 
if not timidity, at least an unfortunate embarrassment. 
There is one species of magnifying, however, which 
subserves a good purpose, because it enables pupils 
to see more clearly the importance of trifles and the 
great significance of their own actions, and in this 
way helps to counteract thoughtlessness. We refer 
to viewing the present in the light of the future. The 
pettiest faults are liable to grow through habit; the 
faintest desire, unless kept under control, may turn 
into passion. Then, too, the future circumstances of 
one's life are uncertain; allurements and temptations 
may come into it, or unlooked-for misfortunes. This 
prevision of the possibilities of the future is, of course, 
not prophecy, and no such claim should be made for 
it; nevertheless, it does good service as a warning. 

191. When the pupil has been brought to the point 
where he regards his moral education as a matter of 
serious import, instruction in conjunction with a grow- 



I96 TRAINING 

ing knowledge of the world may bring it about that a 
glow of moral sentiment permeates his whole thought, 
and that the idea of a moral order unites on the 
one hand with his religious concepts, and with his 
self-observation on the other. Henceforth the direct, 
emphatic expression of praise or censure will have 
to be less frequent. It will no longer be as easy as 
formerly to give a clearer account to the pupil of what 
goes on within him than he has already rendered to 
himself. We may still, however, come to his assist- 
ance from another direction, namely, that of general 
concepts, — a field in which advancing youthful reflec- 
tion is little by little finding its bearings. 

192. Sixth. It is the business of training to remind 
at the right moment and to correct faults. We may 
safely assume ' that, even after a young man has 
reached the plane of moral decisions, he will still stand 
in need of frequent reminders, although in this respect 
individuals exhibit great differences, which observation 
alone is able to reveal. But that which he is reminded 
of consists of resolves which lay claim to something 
like universal validity, but which are not likely to 
make good that claim when incorrectly formulated or 
conceived in the wrong connection. General consid- 
erations become predominant with only a very few 
at best; but youth especially sees and experiences so 
much that is new that the old is easily slighted for 
the new, and, accordingly, the general for the particu- 



GENERAL METHOD OF TRAINING I97 

lar still more. Nevertheless, it is far easier for training 
to remind and to correct with success where a good, firm 
foundation has been laid, than it is to support (161- 
166) when in adolescence nothing is found by which 
the pupil might try to steady himself. 

193. It is evident from the wide divergence among 
the principles which schools old and new have accepted 
as the basis of ethics and of systems of justice, that 
many conflicting, or at any rate, one-sided views may 
arise when the attempt is made to introduce order, 
definiteness, and consistency into existing ethical con- 
cepts. This whole conflict and one-sidedness of opin- 
ion, together with the innumerable fluctuations that 
may find a place here besides, — all this is likely to 
be reproduced in youthful minds, particularly where 
they make it a point of going their own way. Very 
frequently acquired principles adjust themselves to in- 
clinations; the subjective side of character adapts 
itself to the objective. Now, while it is the business 
of instruction to correct error, training must avail 
itself of those opportunities that reveal a directing of 
thoughts by inclination. 

194. When, however, the pupil has once established 
confidence in his disposition as well as in his principles, 
training must withdraw. Unnecessary judging and 
over-anxious observation would only impair naturalness, 
and give rise to extraneous motives. When once self- 
culture has been assumed, it should be left alone. 



SECTION IV 

SYNOPSIS OF GENERAL PEDAGOGICS 
FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF AGE 

CHAPTER I 

The First Three Years 

195. Owing to the delicate character of the thread 
of life during the earliest years, care for the body, 
a subject falling outside the limits of the present dis- 
cussion, has precedence of everything else. The state 
of health, accordingly, implies great variations in the 
time available for profitable culture of the mind. But 
short as this time may be, it is extremely important, 
because of the great receptivity and susceptibility of 
the first period of life. 

The lines of study suggested by these few remarks upon 
infancy have been arduously pursued in recent years by Perez, 1 
Preyer, 2 Baldwin, 3 and others. The attempt has been made in 

1 Perez, " The First Three Years of Childhood." 

2 Preyer, (a) " Mental Development in the Child," (£) " The Develop- 
ment of the Intellect," (c) " The Senses and the Will." 

8 Baldwin, («) " Mental Development in the Child and the Race," 
(£) " Social and Ethical Interpretations." 

198 



THE FIRST THREE YEARS 199 

these works to show how the psychical and physical powers 
of the young child actually unfold. In this way it has been 
possible to correct many erroneous deductions from adult psy- 
chology, thus making elementary training more successful. 

196. Those moments when the child is fully awake 
and free from suffering should always be utilized by 
presenting, but not obtruding, something for sense- 
perception. Powerful impressions are to be avoided. 
The same caution applies to violent changes; very 
slight variations often suffice to revive waning attention. 
It is desirable to secure a certain completeness of eye- 
and ear-impressions, so that the senses may be equally 
at home everywhere within the fields of sight and sound. 

197. As far as safety permits, the spontaneous ac- 
tivity of the child should have free play, primarily that 
he may get practice in the use of every limb, but also 
in order that by his own attempts his observations of 
objects and their changeableness may be enlarged. 

198. Unpleasant, repellent impressions of persons, 
whoever they are, must be most carefully guarded 
against. No one can be allowed to treat a child as a 
plaything. 

199. On the other hand, no one must allow himself 
to be ruled by a child, least of all when the child becomes 
importunate. Otherwise, wilfulness will be the inevi- 
table consequence, a result almost unavoidable with 
sickly children, by reason of the attention demanded 
by their sufferings. 



200 SYNOPSIS OF GENERAL PEDAGOGICS 

200. A child must always feel the superiority of 
adults, and often his own helplessness. The necessary 
obedience is founded on this feeling. With consistent 
treatment, persons constantly about the child will secure 
obedience more readily than others who are rarely 
present. Outbursts of passion must be given time to 
subside unless circumstances urgently require a differ- 
ent course. 

201. On rare occasions there may be an exhibition 
of force inspiring enough fear to make a threat effec- 
tive and to check an excess of animal spirits. For if 
government is to escape the extremely harmful neces- 
sity of severe disciplinary measures later on, it must 
become firmly established during the earliest years of 
childhood. 

202. The language of children demands scrupulous 
attention from the beginning, in order to prevent the 
formation of incorrect and careless habits of speech, 
which at a later period it usually requires much trouble 
and loss of time to eradicate. But literary forms of 
expression that are beyond the comprehension of chil- 
dren are to be strictly avoided. 



CHAPTER II 
The Ages from Four to Eight 

203. The real boundary line is fixed not by age, 
but by that stage of development when the helpless- 
ness of the first stage is superseded by control of the 
limbs and a connected use of language. And the mere 
fact that children are now able to free themselves from 
much momentary discomfort carries with it greater 
calmness and cheerfulness. 

204. In proportion as the child learns to help him- 
self, assistance from without must be withdrawn. At 
the same time government must increase in firmness, 
and with many children in severity, until the last 
traces of that wilfulness vanish, which the former 
period does not as a rule wholly escape. But this 
presupposes that no one provoke the child unneces- 
sarily to any kind of resistance. The firmer the es- 
tablished order of things about the child, the readier 
his compliance. 

205. The child must be given as much freedom as 
circumstances will permit, one purpose being to induce 
frank self-expression, and to obtain data for a study 
of his individuality. Still, the main thing at this age 



202 SYNOPSIS OF GENERAL PEDAGOGICS 

is to guard against bad habits, especially such as are 
connected with objectionable tendencies of disposition. 

206. Two of the ethical ideas concern us here 
directly, each, however, in its own way. They are 
the ideas of good-will and perfection. Some particu- 
lar aspects of the latter a child will almost always hit 
upon himself. The former less often springs up spon- 
taneously; it has to be implanted, and this cannot 
always be done directly. 

207. The ill-will, which many children exhibit fre- 
quently, is always a bad sign, — one that needs to be 
treated very seriously. A character once perverted 
in this respect can no longer be radically changed 
for the better. And this perversion sometimes begins 
very early. The steps to be taken in this connection 
are determined by the following considerations : — 

208. In the first place, younger children are not 
to be left alone very much. Their life should be a 
social life, and their social circle one subject to strict 
order. This requirement fulfilled, all manifestations 
of ill-will are at variance with the rule; and as soon 
as they appear, the child finds himself opposed by 
the existing state of things. Now, the more he has 
grown accustomed to participation in the common will, 
to occupying his time, and being happy within its 
pale, the less will he be able to bear the feeling of 
isolation. To punish a child for an exhibition of ill- 
will, leave him alone. 



THE AGES FROM FOUR TO EIGHT 203 

209. But such punishment presupposes the undimin- 
ished sensitiveness of the younger child, who, on being 
left alone, begins to cry, and feels utterly helpless and 
weak, but who, on the other hand, becomes cheerful 
again the moment he is readmitted into the social 
circle. If this period has been neglected, if the ill- 
disposed child has already caused aversion in the 
circle in which he could have been happy, one feeling 
of ill-will begets another in return, and nothing re- 
mains but to insist on strict justice. 

210. The mere social spirit which keeps ill-will at 
a distance, is, of course, very far from being good- 
will; children are even prone to look upon descrip- 
tive illustrations of the latter, in the ordinary run of 
books for children, as fables easily invented. Hence 
the first thing to make sure of is faith in good-will. 
We have in mind here especially the child who through 
force of habit has lost his appreciation of the kind- 
nesses constantly showered upon him in the course of 
his education. Deprive him of some of the care to 
which he is accustomed ; its renewal will then make 
him recognize and prize it as a voluntary act. When, 
on the contrary, children regard what is being done 
for them as their right, or as the effect of some sort 
of mechanism, this blunder of theirs becomes a fruit- 
ful source of the most manifold moral evils. 

211. To the union of kindness with the necessary 
degree of severity, we must add friendliness, lest the 



204 SYNOPSIS OF GENERAL PEDAGOGICS 

heart of the child become chilled, and the germs of 
good-will perish. During the period under consider- 
ation, the child's frame of mind is still determined 
directly by the treatment he receives. Continued 
unfriendliness of manner produces dull indifference. 
The twofold problem of lifting the idea of good-will 
into adequate prominence and of actually awakening 
sentiments of good-will can, it is true, not be solved 
as early as childhood. But much has been gained 
if sympathy, supported by sociable cheerfulness, unites 
with a belief in the good-will of those on whom the 
child feels dependent, as if they were higher beings. 
The soil is ready now for religious culture and its 
furthering influences. 

212. The idea of perfection in its universal aspect 
is indeed as foreign to the child's mind as that of good- 
will ; nevertheless, the rudiments of what this idea 
implies can be imparted with far greater assurance 
of success. As the child grows and thrives, his 
strength and accomplishments increase likewise, and 
he takes pleasure in his own progress. But here 
innumerable differences in kind and in degree demand 
our observation, particularly in view of the purpose 
of linking instruction to the stage of growth. For it 
is during this period that synthetic as well as analytic 
instruction begins, although it does not as yet normally 
constitute the chief occupation of the child. 

213. As the child's sphere of free activity widens 



THE AGES FROM FOUR TO EIGHT 205 

and his own attempts create a growing store of expe- 
riences, which the teacher will often find it very neces- 
sary to augment by purposely showing him about, the 
earlier fancies are gradually being overbalanced by 
experiential knowledge, although different individuals 
may exhibit great variations of ratio. From this 
impulse to appropriate the new, spring the numerous 
questions children put to the teacher, on the tacit 
assumption that he is omniscient. They are the out- 
come of the mood of the moment, they are purposeless, 
and most of them do not recur if not answered then 
and there. Many of them concern words alone, and 
cease on mention of some suitable designation of the 
object in question. Others relate to the connection 
of events, especially to motives underlying the actions 
of human beings, fictitious and real alike. Now, al- 
though many questions cannot, while others must not, 
be answered, the tendency to ask questions should, 
generally speaking, receive constant encouragement 
as a sign of native interest, of the absence of which 
the teacher often becomes painfully aware later on 
without being able by any skill on his part to revive 
it. Here an opportunity is presented for preparing 
the ground in many directions for future instruction. 
Only, the teacher has to refrain, in answering questions, 
from the prolixity of untimely thoroughness ; what he 
ought to do is to sail on the waves of childish fancy. 
And this does not usually lend itself to experiments ; 



206 SYNOPSIS OF GENERAL PEDAGOGICS 

its movements are, on the contrary, often inconveniently 
capricious. 

214. So long as there can be no fixed time for the 
analytic lessons woven into answers to the questions 
of children, analytic instruction is coincident with the 
guidance of the child's attention, with his social inter- 
course, with his occupations and the consequent culti- 
vation of habits, with hardening exercises, ethical 
judgments, and the earliest religious impressions ; in 
some measure also with reading exercises. 

215. To the latter portion of this period belong the 
first steps in synthetic instruction, reading, writing, 
ciphering, the simplest modes of arrangement, and 
the first observation exercises. If the child is as yet 
incapable of uniform attention during a whole hour, 
the teacher will' be satisfied with smaller divisions of 
time ; the degree of attention is more important than 
its duration. 

Note that the subjects enumerated fall into different 
groups. Counting, arranging, observing, are different 
phases of the natural development of the mind. 
Instruction does not create these activities ; its busi- 
ness is merely to accelerate them. At the beginning, 
therefore, our mode of procedure must be as much as 
possible analytic. On the other hand, reading and 
writing can be taught only synthetically, although on 
the basis of an antecedent analysis of speech sounds. 

(1) Arranging — commonly neglected, though 



THE AGES FROM FOUR TO EIGHT 207 

wrongly so — is an exceedingly easy exercise in itself, 
and facilitates the performance of many other tasks. 
It is therefore appropriate for children. That three 
objects may change places from right to left (from 
front to rear, from above to below) and vice versa 
— this is the beginning. The next step is to show 
that three objects admit of six permutations in a 
straight line. To find how many pairs can be formed 
out of a given number of objects, is one of the 
easiest problems. How far to go, is a matter to be 
determined by circumstances. Not letters, however, 
but objects, — the children themselves, — should be 
changed about, permuted, and varied in position. 
The teaching of a subject like this must in a meas- 
ure have the semblance of play. 

(2) The first observation exercises begin with 
straight lines drawn vertically or cross-wise. Use 
may be made also of knitting needles variously 
placed, side by side or across each other, of domino 
checks, and of similar objects. Next comes the circle, 
subdivided and presented in manifold ways. 

(3) For arithmetic, likewise, concrete objects are 
needed, — coins, for example, which are counted and 
arranged in different groups to illustrate sums, differ- 
ences, and products. At first the highest number 
employed should not exceed, say, twelve or twenty. 

(4) For work in reading we may avail ourselves 
of letters and numbers printed on cards, which lend 



208 SYNOPSIS OF GENERAL PEDAGOGICS 

themselves to a variety of arrangements. If children 
are slow about learning to read, the blunder must 
not be made of neglecting their mental culture in 
other directions, as though reading were its necessary- 
prerequisite. Reading often demands a large amount 
of patience, and should never be allowed to produce 
a feeling of aversion to teachers and books. 

(5) Writing is ushered in by the elementary draw- 
ing that must accompany observation exercises. Writ- 
ing itself, when once well started, furthers reading. 

216. But already at this point many fall behind. 
Puzzled at first by the demand upon them for the 
dull labor of learning, they surrender themselves later 
on to the feeling of incapacity. In large schools, 
where there are always some outstripping the rest, 
and where the majority are trying to keep up with 
the pace set, performance can be had more readily, 
although it is performance by imitation rather than 
by an inner sequence of thought. And even here we 
find thoroughly disheartened laggards. 



CHAPTER III 
Boyhood 

217. The boundary line between boyhood and 
early childhood is fixed, so far as this is possible at 
all, by the fact that the boy, if allowed to do so, 
will leave the company of adults. Formerly he felt 
insecure when left alone : now he considers himself 
fairly well acquainted with his immediate environ- 
ment, beyond which vistas of all sorts are opening. 
Accordingly, at this stage it becomes incumbent on 
the adult to attach himself to the boy, to restrain 
him, to divide the time for him, and to circumscribe 
the fancies born of his self-confidence, — a course of 
action rendered all the more necessary by the circum- 
stance that the boy is a stranger as yet to the timidity 
with which the youth joins the ranks of men. For 
boyhood is marked off from adolescence by this, that 
the boy's aims are still unsettled; he plays and takes 
no thought of to-morrow. Moreover, his dream of 
manhood is one of arbitrary power. The play-impulse 
remains active for a long time, unless checked by 
conventionality. 

During this period, the work of linking instruction 
to sense-impression is by no means to be omitted 
p 209 



210 SYNOPSIS OF GENERAL PEDAGOGICS 

entirely, not even where fair progress has already been 
made in scholarship. We must make sure of a solid 
foundation. 

218. Our chief concern during the age of boyhood 
must be to prevent the premature fixation of the circle 
of ideas. It is for instruction to undertake the task of 
doing so. True, by far the greatest part of the process 
of learning, however manifold, is performed through 
the interpretation of words, the pupil supplying the 
meaning out of the mental store collected previously. 
But this very fact obviously implies that quantitively 
the pupil's stock of ideas is for the most part complete ; 
instruction merely works it up into new forms. Ac- 
cordingly, such shaping must take place while the 
material is still in a plastic state; for with increasing 
years it gradually assumes a more solid character. 

219. Boys differ from girls, individuals differ from 
one another ; and the subjects taught, together with the 
methods of teaching them, should be differentiated 
accordingly. But here the family interposes the inter- 
ests of rank or station, and claims the right to determine 
by these how much or how little instruction a boy 
needs. 

Looked at pedagogically, each study calls for a 
corresponding mental activity to be suited to the gen- 
eral condition of the individual. Its success must 
not involve exhaustion of the pupil's powers, nor make 
demands upon them at the wrong time. 



BOYHOOD 211 

But it would be an error to argue that one who is 
being initiated into one subject ought to combine with 
that subject a second, third, or fourth, on the ground 
that subjects one, two, three, and four are essentially 
interrelated. This conclusion holds for scholars, who, 
so far as they are personally concerned, have long 
passed beyond preliminary pedagogical considerations, 
and even in their case it applies only to those branches 
which are intimately connected with their specialties ; 
it has nothing to do with the psychological conditions 
by which the course of education must be governed. 
Only too frequently do masses of ideas remain isolated 
despite the fact that the objects corresponding to them 
are most intimately and necessarily interconnected ; 
and such isolation could not have been prevented by 
merely starting work in a large web of erudition in a 
number of places. 

The case is different where certain studies constitute 
the necessary preparation for thorough knowledge of 
one kind or another. Here we are right in concluding 
that one who cannot master the former is equally un- 
able to get hold of the latter. 1 

220. It is difficult to deal with the rare instances of 
tardy development unless we find that they are due to 

1 These remarks upon correlation are instructive in view of later develop- 
ments of the Herbartian school in Germany. The reader is referred to 
discussions in the First and Second Year-Books of the National Herbart 
Society. 



212 SYNOPSIS OF GENERAL PEDAGOGICS 

neglected health, or to lack of assistance in enlarging 
the range of experience, and to failure to change the 
mode of instruction. Here an attempt may be made 
to supply what is wanting. But even where the rate 
of progress becomes more rapid at once, the teacher's 
efforts will have turned out favorably only when the 
boy gives also clear proof of a vigorous striving for 
advancement. 

221. To revert to fundamental ethical principles, 
particular mention of the ideas of justice and equity 
needs to be made in this connection. These ideas issue 
from reflection on human relations ; they are conse- 
quently less accessible to early childhood, which finds 
itself subordinated everywhere to the family. The 
boy, on the other hand, lives more among his peers, 
and the necessary corrections are not always admin- 
istered so promptly as to leave no time for indepen- 
dent judgment. Not infrequently voluntary association 
takes place among boys, personal authority plays a 
part, and even usurpation of power is not rare. Now, 
education has to provide for clear ethical concepts and 
for government and training besides. But not only 
that ; it must also furnish the kind of instruction that 
will exhibit similar but remote relations, for purposes 
of unbiassed contemplation. Such instruction must bor- 
row its material from poetry and history. 

222. To history we are referred by still another 
consideration. As has already been shown (206-211), 



BOYHOOD 213 

the idea of good-will points to the necessity of reli- 
gious culture; and this relies for support on stories, 
old stories at that. The expansion of the pupil's 
power of thought which is here demanded must be 
generally attained, even though very incompletely, in 
every course of instruction, that of the village school 
included. 

223. Another fixed goal, the importance of which 
exceeds even that of reading and writing, is furnished 
by arithmetic, which gives clearness to the common 
concepts of experience, and is indispensable in the 
practical affairs of life. 

224. Decimal arithmetic no pupil would be likely 
to think out by himself; he would very certainly not 
invent Bible history. Both must accordingly be re- 
garded as belonging preeminently to the province of 
synthetic instruction, which always involves the difficult 
problem of how to assure its entrance, as a potent 
factor, into existing masses of ideas. As to this, it 
would be a blunder to conclude that, since Bible 
history and history as a whole, arithmetic and mathe- 
matics as a whole, hang together, there is also a 
corresponding pedagogical connection (219). But so 
much is certain, that the efficiency of a group of ideas 
increases with expansion and with multiplied associa- 
tion. It will be an advantage, therefore, to Bible his- 
tory and to arithmetic, if as wide a range is given to 
historical and mathematical teaching as circumstances 



214 SYNOPSIS OF GENERAL PEDAGOGICS 

and ability permit, even if the conditions should be 
such that a many-sided culture is not to be expected. 

225. The subjects next to be considered in the 
choice of material for instruction are poetry and 
natural history, great care being taken not to disre- 
gard the necessary sequence. The time for fables 
and stories should not be curtailed ; it is important 
to make sure that boys do not lose the taste for them 
too early. The easiest and safest facts of zoology 
will have been presented already in connection with 
the picture-books of childhood. The right moment 
for introducing the elements of botany has arrived 
when the boy is collecting plants. Foreign languages 
would be assigned the lowest place, if particular cir- 
cumstances did not in many cases lend them a special 
importance. The ancient classical languages, at any 
rate, form to such an extent the basis of the study of 
theology, of jurisprudence, and of medicine, they are 
so necessary to all higher scholarship, that they will 
always constitute the fundamental branches of instruc- 
tion in academic preparatory schools. 

It is obvious, however, that the extent of instruction 
depends too much on external conditions of rank and 
means to permit a definite prescription of instruction- 
material for all cases. Far less dependent is the 
development of many-sided interest in its relation to 
branches of study. If the limits set to the latter are 
narrow, it is still the business of instruction to secure 



BOYHOOD 215 

an approximation to many-sided culture; while under 
highly favorable circumstances the very abundance of 
educational help must put the teacher on his guard 
against losing sight of the real aim of instruction. 

226. Frequently the burden of necessary and use- 
ful studies is made excessively heavy, a fact which 
the members of the teaching profession try to con- 
ceal from themselves, but which attracts the attention 
of outsiders. A few hours of gymnastics do not suf- 
ficiently counteract such evil effects. As an offset we 
have at best the prevention of the vices of idleness. 
From every point of view, for the mere reason that 
this matter calls for special attention and that the 
method of procedure has to be determined in accord- 
ance with the results of observation, the home must 
do its part toward relieving that natural strain which 
even good instruction exerts — and the school must 
not encroach on the time necessary for that purpose. 
In extreme cases, to be sure, it may be expressly 
demanded that the school engage the whole of a 
boy's time. But, as a rule, outside school-work should 
take up, not the largest, but, on the contrary, the small- 
est amount of time possible. How the remaining 
hours are to be employed is for parents and guardians 
to decide according to individual needs, ascertained by 
observation ; and it is on them that the responsibility 
for the consequences rests. 



CHAPTER IV 
Youth 

227. Whether instruction comes to an end or is 
continued during this period, all it can accomplish 
depends now on the fulfilment of the condition that 
the young man himself regard the retention and in- 
crease of his attainments as something valuable. 
Accordingly, the interrelations of knowledge, as well 
as its connection with action, must be brought before 
his mind with the greatest possible distinctness. He 
must be furnished, also, with the strongest incentives 
to reach the goal determined upon, provided the ques- 
tion is merely how to overcome indolence and thought- 
lessness. For it is just at this stage that the teacher 
needs to fear and to prevent those wrong motives which 
would issue merely in an artificial semblance of talent. 

228. Moreover, the allowance made for the child 
and the boy can no longer be made for the youth. 
His whole ability is to be put to the test, and his posi- 
tion in human society determined according to the 
outcome. He must experience something of the diffi- 
culty of obtaining a foothold among men. Positions 
for which he does not seem quite prepared are con- 

216 



YOUTH 217 

tested ; he is surrounded by rivals, and is spurred on 
by expectations, which it is often difficult to moderate 
when most necessary. 

229. If now the young man puts his trust in favor- 
able circumstances, and, in spite of all appeals, gives 
himself up to the pursuit of ease and pleasure, edu- 
cation is at an end. It only remains to conclude with 
precepts and representations which future experiences 
may possibly recall. 

230. If, on the other hand, the youth has his eyes 
fixed on a definite goal, the form of life which he is 
striving to attain, and the motives that impel him, 
will determine what else may be done for him. 
According as the ideals of honor that he makes his 
own are directed more outwardly or inwardly, they 
stand more or less midway between plans for actions 
and maxims. 

231. The youth is no longer pliant, except when 
his failures have made him feel ashamed of himself. 
Such cases must be made use of for the purpose of 
making good deficiencies. But on the whole, duty re- 
quires that the stern demands of morality be held up 
to him without disguise. Perfect frankness can hardly 
be looked for any longer, and to insist on it is out of 
the question entirely. The reserve of the age of ado- 
lescence marks the natural beginning of self-control. 

These brief paragraphs on the development of the individual 
through infancy, childhood, boyhood, and youth, mark an early 



2l8 SYNOPSIS OF GENERAL PEDAGOGICS 

interest in what is now known as child-study, the literature 
of which has become voluminous. For a dissertation on the 
experimental study of children, and a bibliography of the sub- 
ject, the reader is referred to the monograph by Arthur 
McDonald, of the United States Bureau of Education, entitled 
"Experimental Study of Children." A smaller but more useful 
bibliography has been compiled by L. N. Wilson. It is found 
in Pedagogical Seminary for September, 1899. 



PART III 

SPECIAL APPLICATIONS OF PEDAGOGICS 



oXKc 



SECTION I 

REMARKS ON THE TEACHINGS OF PAR- 
TICULAR BRANCHES OF STUDY 

CHAPTER I 

Religion 

232. The content of religious instruction is for 
theologians to determine, while philosophy bears wit- 
ness that no knowledge is able to surpass the trust 
of religious faith. But both the beginning and the 
end of religious instruction call for remarks from the 
point of view of pedagogy. 

Religious instruction culminates, if it does not end, 
in the rite of confirmation, and the subsequent admis- 
sion to the Holy Communion. The former is char- 
acteristic of a particular Christian denomination ; the 
latter, on the contrary, of the whole brotherhood of 

219 



220 TEACHING OF PARTICULAR BRANCHES 

Christians. Now the profound emotion which marks 
the first Communion service should imply a conquest 
over the feeling of separation from other denomina- 
tions, especially since the mere admission to Com- 
munion is conditioned on the general requirement of 
earnest ethical aspiration. It is thus assumed that 
members of other confessions, provided they are com- 
municants at all, have fulfilled the same condition. 
Preparatory instruction must work toward this end all 
the more, since with many persons Christian love for 
those who differ from them in important articles of 
faith belongs to the more difficult duties. Moreover, 
the fact that this same instruction necessarily had to 
set forth clearly fundamental denominational differ- 
ences, lends additional weight to the necessity of 
inculcating the virtue of Christian charity. 

233. In academic schools, if Greek is begun early 
enough, it is possible to deepen the impressions of 
Christian teaching by the dialogues of Plato that bear 
on the death of Socrates, particularly the " Crito " and 
the "Apology." Being the weaker, however, impres- 
sions of this sort should precede the time when the 
solemn initiation into Christian fellowship produces its 
whole powerful effect. 

234. Going back in thought, we find that the por- 
tion of religious instruction which deals with char- 
acteristic denominational distinctions, presupposes that 
which deals with tenets common to all Christians, and 



RELIGION 221 

we find that this in turn has been preceded by Bible 
stories, including those of the Old Testament. But 
the question arises, " Must we not go back to some- 
thing more fundamental still ? " 

235. Religion cannot possibly be adequately pre- 
sented by treating of it merely as a perpetuation of 
something historical and past. The teacher must 
needs make use also of the present testimony fur- 
nished by the adjustment of means to end, in nature. 
But even this, for -which some knowledge of nature 
is prerequisite, and which leads up to the ideas of 
wisdom and power, is not the first step. 

236. True family feeling is elevated easily and 
directly to the idea of the Father, of the father and 
mother. Only where such feeling is wanting does it 
become necessary to make churches and Sunday 
observance the starting-point as indications of humil- 
ity and gratitude. An all-pervading love, providence, 
and watchful care constitute the first concept of the 
Highest Being, — a concept limited by the mental 
horizon of the child, and expanding and becoming 
more elevated only by degrees. 

237. The process of elevating religious concepts and 
purifying them of unworthy admixtures must, however, 
have taken place, and the true concepts must have 
been deeply impressed, before the mythological con- 
ceptions of antiquity become known ; in which case 
the latter will produce the right effect by the con- 



222 TEACHING OF PARTICULAR BRANCHES 

trast between the manifestly fabulous and crude, and 
the worthy and sublime. If managed properly, this 
subject presents no difficulties. 

238. But there are other difficulties, — difficulties 
growing out of individual peculiarities. While some 
would be harmed by much talk about sin, because they 
would thus either become acquainted with it, or else 
be filled with fantastic terror, there arc others whom 
only the strongest language can move, and still others 
who themselves preach against the sins of the world, 
and, at the same time, front the world in proud secu- 
rity. Then there are those who brood over ethical 
problems, and who, without having heard of Spinoza,- 
argue that what the Highest Judge has permitted to 
happen he has approved of, whence might is the prac- 
tical proof of right. There are contemners of mere 
morality, who think that prayers will consecrate their 
evil actions. Isolated traces of such perversions may 
indeed be met with even in children, especially if 
their glib reproduction of the sermon, or worse yet, 
their praying aloud, has happened to receive praise. 

Hence it is necessary to observe the effect of reli- 
gious instruction on each individual. Another task for 
home training:. 



CHAPTER II 

History 

239. T/ie most common blunder that younger 
teachers of history are apt to make is that, without 
intending it, they become increasingly prolix in pre- 
sentation. It is not that interest deepens, but that 
the network of events lures them, now one way, now 
another. This of itself evinces preparation ; but men- 
tal preparation alone does not suffice; preliminary prac- 
tice, too, is necessary. 

Young teachers of history, like young teachers in other sub- 
jects, arc prone to error. What the prevailing error in a given 
study will be, is likely to depend upon conventional methods 
of presenting it. In Germany it is customary for the teacher 
himself to be the historian through whose mind all historical 
knowledge passes on its way to the children. But just as 
good writers of history are rare, so good teachers of history are 
likely to be few, since in an important sense they are at once 
teachers and oral historians. Where the text-book is depended 
upon for the narrative, as in the United States, a different 
difficulty presents itself to the teacher. What shall he do with 
the text, all the pupils having read it ? Perhaps the common- 
est method is to call upon them one by one to reproduce it in 
class. But this is a deadening process, since it compels nine- 
teen pupils to sit passive while the twentieth recites the words 

223 



224 TEACHING OF PARTICULAR BRANCHES 

that the nineteen could repeat equally well. If, therefore, the 
besetting fault of the teacher of history in German is prolixity, 
that of the American teacher is tediousness. The German 
method is that of primitive man, where the legends of the tribe 
are handed down from father to son by word of mouth ; the 
American presentation of history is modern, where all the 
resources of scholarship and the advantages of the printing 
press are utilized. Each method has peculiar advantages, the 
former having the possible charm of first-hand narrative, 
the latter that of accuracy and comprehensiveness. The nar- 
rative method is greatly superior to that of the text-book with 
children whose powers of reading are not well developed ; the 
text-book, together with its available accessories, is greatly to 
be preferred with older pupils capable of large amounts of 
reading. The following sections give a vivid description of the 
narrative method at its best ; the commentary will attempt to 
show how the printed page may be made equally attractive, and, 
at the same time, much more useful. 

240. If, to begin with, a purely chronological, but 
accurate, outline-view of history is to be imparted, 
the teacher must be able to traverse mentally the 
whole historical field, going with equal readiness back, 
forward, or across (synchronistically). The notable 
names must form definite groups and series; and the 
teacher must possess facility in making the most 
notable names stand out clearly from the groups, and 
in condensing the most salient points of a long series 
into a short series. 

If this mastery of subject-matter is important for the narra- 
tor, it is equally important for the teacher who depends upon 



HISTORY 225 

print for the narration. Observation of current history teach- 
ing betrays the fact that the teacher rarely becomes master of 
his material to such an extent that he can throw it into new 
forms. As it stands in the book, he probably knows it ; but 
to take liberties with the facts, to expand parts, or throw masses 
into brief outline, to make new groupings, or to change a long 
series into a short one, usually lies beyond his ability. This 
lesson the American teacher must learn through a better mas- 
tery of his materials. 

241. Again, the teacher must make himself per- 
fectly familiar with general notions that relate to 
classes of society — constitutions, institutions, religious 
customs, stages of culture — and that serve to explain 
events. But not only this ; he must study likewise 
the conditions under which he can develop them and 
keep them present in the minds of his pupils. This 
consideration alone shuts out most generalizations from 
the first lessons in history. And, accordingly, ancient 
history, whose moving causes are simpler than the 
more modern political factors, maintains its place in 
presentations of historical material to younger pupils. 

American history is better than ancient history in respect to 
its richness of picturesque variety. It is, moreover, easier for 
children to comprehend, since our present conditions have 
emerged directly from our pioneer state. Not only are con- 
stitutions, institutions, and religious customs to be studied, but 
the economic conditions of those early times are particularly 
worthy of study, since they are both important and interesting. 
Methods of farming, of conducting household affairs, such as 
Q 



226 TEACHING OF PARTICULAR BRANCHES 

cooking, making fires, producing clothing, securing shelter, 
means of transportation on land and water, methods of commu- 
nication, and many other similar topics are of interest to the 
young. 

242. Furthermore, due attention must be given to 
the difficulty of narrating well a complex event. The 
very first condition is continuity of the thought-current, 
in order that the thread of the story may remain un- 
broken, except where there are intentional rests. This, 
in turn, presupposes fluency of speech, careful cultiva- 
tion of which is indispensable to a good presentation 
of historical events. But mere fluency does not suffice. 
There must also be resting-places, because otherwise 
alternate absorption and reflection cannot be secured; 
and because, without such pauses, even the formation 
of the series fails, since what has preceded arrests 
what follows. It is therefore not immaterial where 
a historical lesson begins and ends, and where the 
reviews are inserted. 

While the narrator can utter words in succession 
only, the event has, in his mind, a very different form, 
which it is his business to convey to his hearers. Nor 
does the form of the event resemble a level plane ; 
on the contrary, a manifold interest lifts some things 
into prominence and lets others sink. It is essential, 
accordingly, to distinguish how far, in a given instance, 
the narration should follow in a straight line the 
succession of events, and where, on the other hand, 



HISTORY 227 

it should deviate to include accessory circumstances. 
The very language used must possess the power to 
induce side-glances and retrospective views, even with- 
out leaving the main road. The narrator must have 
skill to introduce descriptions here and to linger over 
pictures there, but must be able also, while moving 
his hearers, to retain his own self-control and to keep 
his bearings. 

243. There remains one other requisite of prime 
importance, namely, the utmost simplicity of expres- 
sion. The condensed and abstract language of more 
recent historians is hardly suited even to the highest 
class of a secondary school ; a sentimental or witty treat- 
ment, such as that found in modern novelists, must 
be avoided entirely. The only safe models are the 
ancient classics. 

The most serious fault with the text-book method is the bar- 
renness arising from condensation. To teach history solely 
from a single book, even if this be among the best, is to pro- 
duce an atrophy of the historical interest. It is on this account 
that successful teachers introduce large amounts of collateral 
reading, not of similarly condensed books, which would be like 
remedying the drouth with more dry weather, but of sections 
from fuller works on the same subject. In American history 
the pupil is directed to read selected portions of standard 
works like those of Fiske, Parkman, McMaster, Turner, Tyler, 
or earlier historians. In English history he is sent directly to 
such men as Gardiner, Green, Freeman, Traill, Ransome, Cun- 
ningham and McArthur, Harrison and Macaulay. The method 



228 TEACHING OF PARTICULAR BRANCHES 

of copious readings has, in turn, its disadvantages, the most con- 
spicuous of which is diffusiveness. It is easy for the student 
to become so absorbed in a mass of details that he lose the 
proper sense of proportion, or overlook the relative impor- 
tance of events, or fail to fix firmly in mind the causal series 
that binds all together. In the case of either of the methods 
described, it is the teacher who is responsible for order and 
for clearness of detail. In the one case his narrative must 
have the artistic unity of the finished historian ; in the other 
he must so manage a wealth of given material that the golden 
chain of cause and effect shall be seen binding diversity into 
unity. The ability to do the first is of a much rarer order 
than that of the second, for the art of teaching is not so 
difficult as the art of historical composition. The remedy for 
the specific difficulty which modern text-book teaching of his- 
tory encounters will be discussed under paragraph 247. 

The stories of Herodotus should serve the teacher 
as the basis for practice. In fact, they should actually 
be memorized in an accurate but fluent translation. 
The effect on children is surprising. At a later 
stage use may be made of Arrian and Livy. The 
method of the ancients of letting the principal char- 
acters utter their views and set forth their motives with 
their own lips, the narrator abstaining from reflections 
of his own, should be scrupulously imitated, and should 
be departed from only in the case of manifestly arti- 
ficial rhetorical devices. 

244. The course of preparation outlined above (240- 
243) having gone hand-in-hand with a thorough, prag- 



HISTORY 



229 



matic study of history, it is further necessary, in the 
exercise of the art acquired, to learn to expand or con- 
tract, according to circumstances and the specific aims 
of each occasion. Concerning this point no generally 
applicable rules can be given, on account of the great 
variety of possible cases ; but the following suggestions 
should be noted : — 

In general, all helps whereby historical objects may 
be represented to sense — portraits, pictures of buildings, 
of ruins, etc. — are desirable; maps for the more ancient 
times must be regarded as particularly indispensable. 
They should always be at hand, and their study should 
not be neglected. Among these helps must be included 
charts, substantially like that by Strass entitled "The 
Stream of Time," which places before the eye not only 
synchronistic events, but at the same time shows also 
the alternate union and division of countries. The 
lack of such aids causes the loss of much time and 
temper over mere memory work. 

Again, attention is due to the following four aspects 
of the teaching of history : — 

245. (1) In the first place, even the earliest lessons 
in geography give rise to the question, whenever the 
description of a country is finished, " How did things 
look in this country formerly ? " For it is a part of 
correct apprehension that cities and other works of 
man should not be regarded as of equal age with moun- 
tains, rivers, and oceans. Now, although the teacher 



230 TEACHING OF PARTICULAR BRANCHES 

cannot stop, during the time set apart for geography 
dealing with the present, to show and explain maps 
illustrative of the past, it will be useful, nevertheless, 
to add a few remarks about the early history of the 
country under discussion. The art of narration, how- 
ever, is out of place here, inasmuch as the question, 
although reaching back in time, is suggested by the 
country. Mention of former activity, such as migra- 
tions and wars, is made simply for the purpose of add- 
ing life to the conception of a stationary surface. At 
the beginning, the notes on by-gone periods in connec- 
tion with the geography of Germany will accordingly 
be as brief as possible ; gradually, however, as France, 
England, Spain, Italy, are being studied in succession, 
these historical notes become knit together, and history 
is thus, so to speak, made to loom up in the distance. 
How far to go in this direction can be determined more 
definitely by distinguishing between the requirements 
of the first, and of the second course in geography. 
In the first course the most general statements may 
suffice, e.g., that not so very long ago Germany was 
split up more than now ; that there were older times, 
when cities and neighboring princes often made war 
upon each other ; that the barons used to live on more 
or less inaccessible heights ; but that, in the interest of 
better order and stricter surveillance, Germany was 
divided into ten districts, etc. 

The second course will admit of more historical facts 



HISTORY 231 

than the first, although still only very few pertaining to 
an older epoch. Only the more recent events can be 
conveniently connected with geography, except in the 
case of still extant historical monuments, — such, for in- 
stance, as the ruins in Italy, the composite language of 
England, the peculiar political organization of Switzer- 
land with its many subdivisions, visible on the map, and 
its diversities of language. 

If, as is sometimes recommended, the plan is 
adopted of preparing the way for the study of medi- 
aeval and modern history by a separate introductory 
course in short biographies, such a plan, though at 
best only fragmentary in its results, becomes at least 
more feasible where historical notes of the kind just 
mentioned are incorporated with the lessons in geog- 
raphy. But in this case it is all the more essential 
to have a chronological chart upon the wall, to some 
dates of which the teacher must take every opportu- 
nity to refer, in order that the pupils may obtain at 
least some fixed points. Otherwise scattered biogra- 
phies are liable to occasion great confusion. 

246. (2) The chief basis for the earlier stages of 
historical teaching will always be Greek and Roman 
history. It will not be inappropriate to commence 
with a few charming stories from Homeric mythology, 
since there is a close connection between the history 
of a people and their religion. Two wrong ways, 
however, are to be avoided : one, that of giving a 



232 TEACHING OF PARTICULAR BRANCHES 

detailed theogony or of including objectionable myths, 
for the sake of completeness, which would here be 
devoid of a rational purpose ; the other, that of having 
the mythological elements memorized. Only true his- 
tory should be memorized by children. Mythology is a 
study for youths or men. 

Persian history must be told approximately in the 
sequence and setting given by Herodotus; to it the 
history of Assyria and of Egypt may be joined in 
the form of episodes, Greece being kept well in the 
foreground. The stories from the Old Testament, on 
the other hand, form a chain of lessons by them- 
selves. The history of Rome must at first retain its 
mythical beginnings. 

Whatever German opinion may be regarding the beginnings 
of historical instruction for their own children, American his- 
tory possesses strong claims for precedence when we come to 
children of the United States. If we regard the chief intel- 
lectual purpose of history for the student to be the understand- 
ing of the present status through a knowledge of the historical 
progress that has led to it, then the primitive and pioneer his- 
tory of this country is infinitely more valuable than any other 
to an American child, for in it lie enfolded the forces that 
have developed our people ; whereas Greece and Rome are as 
distant in influence as they are in time. It is the mythology 
of Greece and Rome that most attracts children ; but this 
belongs to literature rather than to history. Accounts of bat- 
tles are about the same the world over, but it takes more 
maturity of mind to understand the Greek rage for individuality 



HISTORY 233 

after the rise of philosophy, than it does to understand a corre- 
sponding feeling among the American pioneers, to say nothing 
of the desirability of teaching the latter as a phase of our own 
development. For reasons of simplicity, therefore, as well as 
for psychological nearness and national importance, American 
history must take precedence over that of Greece and Rome 
for American children. 

247. Suppose, now, that detailed stories after the 
models furnished by the ancients have won the atten- 
tion of the pupils-; the mere pleasure of listening to 
stories can nevertheless not be allowed to determine 
continuously the impression to be produced. Con- 
densed surveys must follow, and a few of the main 
facts be memorized in chronological order. 

The following suggestions will be in place here. 
The chief events are to attach themselves in the 
memory to the memorized dates in such a way that 
no confusion can arise. Now, a single date may 
suffice for the group of connected incidents constitut- 
ing one main event; if it seems necessary to add 
another, or a third, well and good, but to keep on 
multiplying dates defeats the very end aimed at. The 
more dates the weaker their effect, on account of the 
growing difficulty of remembering them all. In the 
history of one country dates should rather remain 
apart as far as possible, in order that the intervening 
numbers may be all the more available for purposes 
of synchronistic tabulation, by which the histories of 



234 TEACHING OF PARTICULAR BRANCHES 

different countries are to be brought together and con- 
nected. The same sparing use should be made of 
the facts of ancient geography, but those that are 
introduced must be learned accurately. 

Granted that the primitive method of historical narration by 
the teacher is the most effective in its appeal to the beginner, 
it must be maintained that the combined knowledge and 
literary skill of modern historians infinitely surpass the powers 
of the ordinary teacher. The modern problem is, not how to 
compose history, but how to utilize that which has been com- 
posed. It is, in short, to guard against the confusion that 
comes from diffuseness. Wide historical reading may be as 
bad for the student as wide reading of novels. The mind may 
surrender itself to the passing panorama as completely in the 
one field as in the other, until the impressions made are like 
those of a ship upon a sea. The remedy is the thorough 
organization in the mind of the student of the knowledge 
gained in diverse fields. This is secured by teacher or author, 
or both. Some authors secure clearness of outline by topics, 
references, and research questions. Larned's " History of Eng- 
land " concludes every chapter in this way. As an illustration 
we may quote from Chapter XVI, which narrates the quarrel 
between King Charles and his people : — 

202. Charles I. 
Topic. 

1. Charles's character and views. 
References. — Bright, II, 608, 609 ; Green, 495 ; Montague, 
118 ; Ransome, 138, 139. 

203. Bad Faith in the Beginning of the Reign. 
Topic. 

1. Charles's marriage and broken pledges. 
Reference. — Bright, II, 608, 614. 



HISTORY 235 

204. The First Parliament of King Charles. 
Topics. 

1. Charles's designs and his treatment of Parliament. 

2. Attitude of Commons and their dissolution. 

3. The King's levies. 
Reference. — Gardiner, II, 502, 503. 

Research Questions. — (1) What were the legal and illegal 

sources of the King's revenues? (Ransome, 151, 155). 

(2) What might be said to constitute the private property 

of the crown ? (3) What contributed to make Charles's 

court expensive? (Traill, IV, 76). (4) How would this 

need for money make for parliamentary greatness ? l 

In a similar way the remaining topics of this section of 

English history are recorded, guiding the pupil in his outlines 

and his readings. With suitable care on the part of the teacher 

to see that the student fixes the outline firmly in mind, there is 

no danger of becoming lost in a wilderness of words. At the 

same time the pupil's mind is enriched from many noble 

sources, instead of being limited by the presumably meagre 

resources of a single teacher. By this method the child may 

enjoy the benefits of modern erudition, without at the same 

time being harmed by dissipation of mental energy. 

Other authors reach the same ends by different means. 
Fiske's " History of the United States," for example, concludes 
each chapter with a topical outline in which cause and effect 
are emphasized. At the close of Chapter X, on the "Causes 
and Beginning of the Revolution," we find the following : — 

Topics and Questions 
76. Causes of III Feeling between England and her Colonies. 
1 . What was the European idea of a colony, and of its obj ect ? 
l Larned, " History of England," The Macmillan Co., p. 396. 



236 TEACHING OF PARTICULAR BRANCHES 

2. What erroneous notions about trade existed? 

3. What was the main object of the laws regulating trade, 

etc.? 

77. The Need of a Federal Union. 

1. One difficulty in carrying on the French wars. 

2. An account of Franklin. 

3. Franklin's plan of union, etc. 

78. The Stamp Act Passed and Repealed. 

1. The kind of government needed by the colonies. 

2. How Parliament sought to establish such a government. 

3. The nature of a stamp act, etc. 

79. Taxation in England. 

1. How Pitt's friendship for America offended George III. 

2. The representation of the English people in Parlia- 

ment. 

3. How the representation of the people is kept fair in 

the United States. 

4. How it became unfair in England. 

5. Corrupt practices favored by this unfairness. 

6. The party of Old Whigs. 

7. The Tories, or the party of George III. 

8. The party of New Whigs and its aims. 

9. Why George III was so bitter against Pitt. 

10. The attitude of the King toward taxation in America. 

11. The people of England not our enemies, etc. 

At the close of these topics there follows a list of fifteen 
" Suggestive Questions and Directions," with page references 
to Fiske's "The American Revolution," Vol. I, the whole being 
concluded by eighteen topics for collateral reading from "The 
American Revolution," and from Cooke's "Virginia." 1 

1 Fiske, John, "A History of the United States for Schools," Houghton, 
Mifflin & Co., Boston, pp. 211-215. 



HISTORY 237 

It is a significant fact that modern text-books for children 
are being prepared by masters in the various departments of 
knowledge, not a little thought being bestowed upon the high- 
est utilization of all modern instruments for arousing the intel- 
ligent interest of the pupils. This being the case, it is idle to 
rely upon primitive methods, however potent they may have 
been in the pa with pupils who have learned to read fluently. 

248. The general surveys that follow the detailed 
narratives have this advantage for the pupil : he infers 
of his own accord,- that in periods of which not much 
is told, a great deal took place, nevertheless, which the 
history or the teacher passes over in silence. In this 
way the false impressions are prevented that would be 
produced by purely compendious instruction, which in- 
deed, at a later stage, becomes in a measure unavoid- 
able. 

249. (3) Mediaeval history derives no assistance from 
the study of the ancient languages, nor is it closely 
related to present conditions ; there is difficulty in 
imparting to the presentation of it more than the 
clearness obtainable through geography and chronol- 
ogy. But more than this is requisite : the burden of 
mere memory work without interest would become 
too great. The fundamental factors, Islamism, Papacy, 
the Holy Roman Empire, Feudalism, must be explained 
and given due prominence. Most of the facts down 
to Charlemagne may be made to contribute additional 
touches to the panorama of the Great Migration. With 



238 TEACHING OF PARTICULAR BRANCHES 

Charlemagne the chain of German history begins, and 
it will usually be considered advisable to extend this 
chain to the end of the Middle Ages, in order to have 
something to which synchronous events may be linked 
later on. Yet some doubt arises as to the value of 
such a plan. To be sure, the reigns of the Ottos, the 
Henrys, the Hohenstaufen, together with intervening 
occurrences, form a tolerably well-connected whole ; 
but as early as the interregnum there is a sad break, 
and although the historical narrative recovers, as it 
were, with the stories of Rudolph Albrecht and Lud- 
wig the Bavarian, there is nothing in the names of 
succeeding leaders, from Carl IV to Frederick III, that 
would make them proper starting-points and connect- 
ing centres for the synchronism of the whole period 
in question. It might be better, therefore, to stop with 
the excommunication of Ludwig the Bavarian, with 
the assembly of the electors at Rhense, and with the 
account of how the popes came to reside in Avignon. 
Then — going back to Charlemagne — France, Italy, 
even England, may be taken up, and greater complete- 
ness given to the history of the crusades. Farther on, 
special attention might be called, in a synchronistic 
way, to Burgundy and Switzerland, and to the chang- 
ing fortunes of the wars between England and France. 
French history may then leave off with the reign of 
Charles VIII, and English history with that of Henry 
VII, while German history, from Maximilian on, is 



HISTORY 239 

placed again in the foreground. The Hussite wars 
will be treated as forerunners of the Reformation. 
Other events must be skilfully inserted. Many modi- 
fications of grouping will have to be reserved for sub- 
sequent repetitions. 

250. (4) In presenting modern history, the teacher 
will do well to avail himself of the fact that modern 
history does not cover so long reaches of time as 
mediaeval history does, and that it falls into three 
sharply defined periods, the first of which ends with 
the treaty of Westphalia, the second extends from 
this date to the French Revolution, and the third, to 
the present. These periods should be carefully dis- 
tinguished, the leading events of each should be 
narrated synchronistically, and a recital of the most 
essential historical facts about each country should 
follow. Only after each has been handled in this way, 
and the subject-matter presented has been thoroughly 
impressed upon the memory by reviews, will it be 
well to pass on to a somewhat fuller ethnographical 
account reaching back into the mediaeval history of 
each country and extending forward to our own times. 
No harm is done by going over the same ground 
again for the purpose of amplifying that which before 
appeared in outline only. 

The chief point is, that no course of instruction 
which claims at all to give completeness of culture 
can be regarded as concluded before it has intro- 



240 TEACHING OF PARTICULAR BRANCHES 

duced the pupil to the pragmatic study of history, and 
has taught him to look for causes and effects. This 
applies preeminently to modern history, on account 
of its direct connection with the present ; but mediae- 
val and ancient history, too, have to be worked over 
once more from this point of view. History should 
be the teacher of mankind ; if it does not become so, 
the blame rests largely with those who teach history 
in schools. 

251. A well-compiled and well-proportioned brief 
history of inventions, arts, and sciences should con- 
clude the teaching of history, not only in gymnasia, 
but also and especially in higher burgher schools, 
because their courses of study are not supplemented 
by the university. 

Moreover, the whole course in history is properly 
accompanied by illustrative poetical selections, which, 
although perhaps not produced during the different 
epochs, yet stand in some relation to them ; and which 
in some measure, even if only by illustrating ages 
very far apart, exhibit the vast differences in the 
freest activities of the human mind. 



Note. — National history is not the same for each land, nor 
everywhere of equal interest, and, owing to its connection with 
larger events, often unintelligible to young minds when torn out of 
its place and presented by itself. If its early introduction is desired 
in order to kindle the heart, special pains must be taken to select 
that which is intelligible and which appeals to boyhood. 



CHAPTER III 

Mathematics and Nature Study 

252. Aptitude for mathematics is not rarer than 
aptitude for other studies. That the contrary seems 
true, is owing to a belated and slighted beginning. But 
that mathematicians are seldom inclined to give as 
much time to children as they ought is only natural. 
The elementary lessons in combination and geometry 
are neglected in favor of arithmetic, and demonstra- 
tion is attempted where no mathematical imagination 
has been awakened. 

The first essential is attention to magnitudes, and 
their changes, where they occur. Hence, counting, 
measuring, weighing, where possible ; where impossi- 
ble, at least the estimating of magnitudes to deter- 
mine, however vaguely at first, the more and the less, 
the larger and the smaller, the nearer and the farther. 

Special consideration should be given, on the one 
hand, to the number of permutations, variations, and 
combinations ; and, on the other hand, to the quadratic 
and cubic relations, where similar planes and bodies 
are determined by analogous lines, 
a 241 



242 TEACHING OF PARTICULAR BRANCHES 

Note. — This is not the place for saying much that might be said 
concerning that which renders early instruction in mathematics un- 
necessarily difficult. But it may be remarked in brief that some of 
these difficulties arise from the terminology, some from the teach- 
er's accustomed point of view, and some from the multiplication of 
varying requirements. 

(i) The phraseology used forms an obstacle, even to the easiest 
steps in fractions. The fraction f, for example, is read two-thirds, 
and, accordingly, f x f, two-thirds times four-fifths, instead of, mul- 
tiplication by two and by four, and division by three and by five. 
The fact is overlooked that the third part of a whole includes the 
concept of this whole, which cannot be a multiplier, but only a multi- 
plicand. This difficulty the pupils stumble over. The same applies 
to the mysterious word square root, employed instead of the expres- 
sion : one of the two equal factors of a product. Matters grow even 
worse later on when they hear of roots of equations. 

(2) Still more might be said in criticism of the erroneous view 
according to which numbers are recorded as sums of units. This is 
true as little as that sums are products ; two does not mean two 
things, but doubling, no matter whether that which is doubled is one 
or many. The concept of a dozen chairs is not made up of 12 
percepts of single chairs; it comprises only two mental products, — 
the general concept chair and the undivided multiplication by 12. 
The concept one hundred men likewise contains only two concepts, — 
the general concept man and the undivided number 100. So, also, in 
such expression as six foot, seven pound, in which language assists 
correct apprehension by the use of the singular. Number concepts 
remain imperfect so long as they are identified with series of num- 
bers and recourse is had to successive counting. 

(3) In arithmetical problems the difficulty attaching to the ap- 
prehension of the things dealt with is confounded with that of the 
solution itself. Principal and interest and time, velocity and dis- 
tance and time, etc., are matters which must be familiar to the pupils, 
and hence must have been previously explained, long before use can 
be made of them for practice. The pupil to whom arithmetical con- 



MATHEMATICS AND NATURE STUDY 243 

cepts still give trouble should be given concrete examples so familiar 
to him that out of them he can create over again the mathematical 
notion and not be compelled to apply it to them. 

253. The measuring of lines, angles, and arcs (for 
which many children's games, constructive in tendency, 
may present the first occasion) leads over to observa- 
tion exercises dealing with both planes and spheres. 
Skill in this direction having been attained, frequent 
application must be made of it, or else, like every 
other acquirement, it will be lost again. Every plan 
of a building, every map, every astronomical chart, 
may afford opportunities for practice. 

These observation exercises are to be organized in 
such a manner that upon the completion of mensura- 
tion the way is fully prepared for trigonometry, pro- 
vided that besides the work in plain geometry, algebra 
has been carried as far as equations of the second 
degree. 

Extended discussions as to the place and value of the ratio 
idea in elementary arithmetic are found in "The Psychology 
of Number," by McLellan & Dewey, 1 and in " The New Arith- 
metic," by W. W. Speer. 2 The former work advocates early 
practice in measuring with changeable units, claiming that 
the child should early acquire the idea of number as the 
expression of the relation that a measured somewhat bears 
to a chosen measurer, and making counting a special case of 

1 McLellan & Dewey, " The Psychology of Number," International 
Education Series, D. Appleton & Co., New York, 1895. 

2 Speer, W. W., "The New Arithmetic," Ginn & Co., Boston, 1896. 



244 TEACHING OF PARTICULAR BRANCHES 

measuring. Mr. Speer makes the ratio idea still more promi- 
nent by furnishing the school with numerous sets of blocks of 
various sizes and shapes with which to drill the pupils into 
instantaneous recognition of number as the ratio between two 
quantities. For an extended examination of these principles 
the reader may well consult Dr. David Eugene Smith's able 
treatise on the teaching of elementary mathematics. 1 

Note. — It is now nearly forty years since the author wrote a 
little book on the plan of Pestalozzi's A, B, C, of observation, and he 
has often had it used by teachers since. Numerous suggestions have 
been given by others under the title, " Study of Forms. 1 ' The main 
thing is training the eye in gauging distances and angles, and com- 
bining such exercises with very simple computations. The aim is 
not merely to secure keenness of observation for objects of sense, 
but, preeminently, to awaken geometrical imagination and to con- 
nect arithmetical thinking with it. Indeed, exercises of this sort 
constitute the necessary, although commonly neglected, preparation 
for mathematics. The helps made use of must be concrete objects. 
Various things have been tried and cast aside again ; most convenient 
for the first steps are triangles made from thin hard-wood boards. 
Of these only seventeen pairs are needed, all of them right-angled 
triangles with one side equal. To find these triangles, draw a circle 
with a radius of four inches, and trace the tangents and secants at 
5°, io°, 1 5 , 20°, etc., to 85°. The numerous combinations that can 
be made will easily suggest themselves. The tangents and secants 
must be actually measured by the pupils ; from 45 on, the corre- 
sponding figures, at first not carried out beyond tenths, should be 
noted, and, after some repetition, learned by heart. On this basis 
very easy arithmetical examples may be devised for the immediate 
purpose of gaining the lasting attention of the pupils to matters so 
simple. Observations relating to the sphere require a more compli- 
cated apparatus, namely, three movable great circles of a globe. It 

1 Smith, David Eugene, "The Teaching of Elementary Mathematics," 
Ch. V, The Macmillan Co., New York, 1900. 



MATHEMATICS AND NATURE STUDY 245 

would be well to have such means at hand in teaching spherical trigo- 
nometry. Needless to say, of course, observation exercises do not 
take the place of geometry, still less of trigonometry, but prepare 
the ground for these sciences. When the pupil reaches plain geom- 
etry, the wooden triangles are put aside, and observation is sub- 
ordinated to geometrical construction. Meanwhile arithmetic is 
passing beyond exercises that deal merely with proportions, to 
powers, roots, and logarithms. In fact, without the concept of the 
square root, not even the Pythagorean Theorem can be fully grasped. 

" Herbart's A, B, C, of Sense Perception," together with a 
number of minor educational works, has been translated into 
English. 1 It abounds in shrewd observations and ingenious 
devices, yet as a whole it represents one of those side excur- 
sions, which, though delightful to genius, is not especially use- 
ful to the world. To drill children into the habit of resolving 
a landscape into a series of triangles, may indeed be possi- 
ble, but like any other schematization of the universe, is too 
artificial to be desirable. Nevertheless, a limited use of the 
devices mentioned in this section might tend to quicken an 
otherwise torpid mind. 

254. But now a subject comes up that, on account 
of the difficulties it causes, calls for special considera- 
tion, namely, that of logarithms. It is easy enough to 
explain their use, and to render the underlying concept 
intelligible as far as necessary in practice — arithmeti- 
cal corresponding to geometrical series, the natural 
numbers being conceived of as a geometrical series. 
But scientifically considered, logarithms involve frac- 

1 Eckoff, William J., " Herbart's A, B, C, of Sense Perception," Inter- 
national Education Series, D. Appleton & Co., New York, 1896. 



246 TEACHING OF PARTICULAR BRANCHES 

tional and negative exponents, as also the application 
of the Binomial Theorem. The latter, to be sure, is 
merely an easy combinatory formula so far as integral 
positive exponents are concerned, but, limited to these, 
is here of comparatively little use. 

Now, since trigonometry in its main theorems is in- 
dependent of logarithms, but is little applied without 
their aid, the question arises whether beginners should 
necessarily be given a complete and vigorously scien- 
tific course in logarithms, the highly beneficial instruc- 
tion in trigonometry being postponed until after the 
successful completion of such a course, or whether 
the practical use of logarithms is to be permitted be- 
fore accurate insight into underlying principles has 
been gained. 

Note. — The difficulty encountered in this subject — undoubtedly 
one of those difficulties most keenly felt in teaching mathematics — is 
after all only an illustration of the injurious consequences of former 
sins of omission. If the geometrical imagination were not neglected, 
there would be ample opportunity, not only for impressing far more 
deeply the concept of proportion, demanded even by elementary arith- 
metic, but also for developing early the idea of function. The object 
lessons mentioned above have already illustrated the dependence 
of tangents and secants on angles. When these relations of de- 
pendence have become as familiar as may be expected after a half 
year's instruction, sines and cosines also are taken up. But it is 
not sufficient to leave the matter here. Somewhat later, about the 
time when mensuration is introduced, the squares and cubes of 
natural numbers must be emphasized, and very soon committed to 
memory. Next it should be pointed out how by finding the differ- 
ences of squares and cubes respectively, and then adding these dif- 



MATHEMATICS AND NATURE STUDY 247 

ferences, the original numbers may be obtained again. A similar 
treatment should be accorded to figurate numbers. 

Small wooden disks, like checker-pawns, commend themselves for 
the purpose. By means of them various figures are found. The 
pupils are asked to indicate how many disks they need to construct 
one or the other kind of figures. A further step will be to show the 
increase of squares and cubes corresponding to the increase of the 
root, and to make this information serve as the preparation for 
the elementary parts of differential calculus. Now the time has 
come for passing on to the consideration of consecutive values 
of the roots, which are found to differ by quantities of continuously 
decreasing smallness as one progresses continuously through the 
number system. And so, after the logarithms of 1, 10, 100, 1000, 
etc., also of fa, jfo, etc., have been gone over many times, forward 
and backward, the conception is finally reached of the interpola- 
tion of logarithms. 

255. In schools where practical aims predominate, 
logarithms should be explained by a comparison of the 
arithmetical with the geometrical series, and the prac- 
tical application will immediately follow. But even 
where recourse is had to Taylor's Theorem and the 
Binomial Theorem, the gain to the beginner will not 
usually be very much greater. Not as though these 
theorems, together with the elements of differential 
calculus, could not be made clear ; the real trouble lies 
in the fact that much of what is comprehended is not 
likely to be retained in the memory. The beginner, 
when he comes to the application, still has the recol- 
lection of the proof and of his having understood it. 
Indeed, with some assistance he would be able, per- 
haps, to again retrace step by step the course of the 



248 TEACHING OF PARTICULAR BRANCHES 

demonstration. But he lacks perspective ; and in his 
application of logarithms it is of no consequence to 
him by what method they have been calculated. 

What has been said here of logarithms may be applied 
more generally. The value of rigid demonstrations is 
fully seen only when one has made himself at home 
in the field of concepts to which they belong. 

It is customary in American schools to take up elementary 
algebra and elementary geometry upon the completion of 
arithmetic, both algebra and geometry being anticipated to 
some extent in the later stages of arithmetic. The following 
paragraphs from the pen of David Eugene Smith 1 indicate 
some of the advance in algebra since Herbart's time : — 

"The great revival of learning known as the Renaissance, 
in the sixteenth century, saw algebra take a fresh start after 
several centuries of complete stagnation. Tartaglia solved the 
cubic equation, and a little later Ferrari solved the biquadratic. 
By the close of the sixteenth century Vieta had put the key- 
stone in the arch of elementary algebra, the only material 
improvements for some time to come being in the way of 
symbolism. For the next two hundred years the struggle of 
algebraists was for a solution of the quintic equation, or, more 
generally, for a general solution of an equation of any degree. 

"The opening of the nineteenth century saw a few great 
additions to the theory of algebra. The first was the positive 
proof that the general equation of the fifth degree is insoluble 
by elementary algebra, a proof due to Abel. The second was 

1 Compare Smith, David Eugene, " History of Modern Mathematics," 
in Merrimtn & Woodworth's " Higher Mathematics," Wiley, New York, 
1S96. 



MATHEMATICS AND NATURE STUDIES 249 

the mastery of the number systems of algebra, — the complete 
understanding of the negative, the imaginary, the incommen- 
surable, the transcendent. Other additions were in the line of 
the convergency of series, the approximation of the real roots 
of numerical equations, the study of determinants — all finding 
their way into the elements, together with the theories of forms 
and groups, which must soon begin to influence the earlier 
chapters of the subject. 

" This hasty glance at the development of the subject is suf- 
ficient to show how it has been revolutionized in modern times. 
To-day it is progressing as never before. The higher culture 
is beginning to affect the lower; determinants have found 
place in the beginner's course ; graphic methods, objected to 
as innovations by some who are ignorant of their prominence 
in the childhood of science, are reasserting their rights ; the 
'imaginary' has become very real; the inheritances of the alge- 
bra-teachers' guild are being examined with critical eyes, and 
many an old problem and rule must soon go by the board. It 
is valuable to a teacher to see what changes have been wrought 
so that he may join in the movement to weed out the bad, to 
cling to the good, and to reach up into the realm of modern 
mathematics to see if, perchance, he cannot find that which is 
good and usable and light-shedding for the elementary work." 

The true order of elementary mathematics, according to Dr. 
Smith, is substantially as follows : — 

1. Elementary operations of arithmetic. 

2. Simple mensuration, correlation with drawing, the models 

in hand : — 

Inductive geometry — the primitive form of the science. 

3. Arithmetic of business and of science, using the simple 

equation with one unknown quantity wherever it throws 
light upon the subject. 



25O TEACHING OF PARTICULAR BRANCHES 

4. Simple theory of numbers, the roots, series, logarithms. 

5. Elementary algebra, including quadratic and radical equa- 

tions. 

6. Demonstrative plane geometry begun before the algebra is 

completed and correlated with it. 

7. Plane trigonometry and its elementary applications. 

8. Solid geometry. Trigonometry. Advanced algebra, with 

the elements of differentiation and integration. 

" The student should then take a rapid review of his elemen- 
tary mathematics, including a course in elementary analytic 
geometry and the calculus. He would then be prepared to 
enter upon the study of higher mathematics." 

256. Demonstrations taking a roundabout way 
through remote auxiliary concepts are a grave evil 
in instruction, be they ever so elegant. 

Such modes of presentation are rather to be selected 
as start from simple elementary notions. For with 
these conviction does not depend on the unfortunate 
condition requiring a comprehensive view of a long 
series of preliminary propositions. Thus Taylor's 
Theorem can be deduced from an interpolation form- 
ula, and this, in turn, from the consideration of differ- 
ences, for which nothing is needed beyond addition, 
subtraction, and knowledge of the permutation of 
numbers. 

The following account of imaginary and complex numbers 
by Dr. David Eugene Smith is so lucid that it is given at 
length : — 

" The illustrations of the negative number are so numerous, 



MATHEMATICS AND NATURE STUDIES 25 1 

so simple, and so generally known from the common text-books 
that it is unnecessary to dwell upon them. 1 Debt and credit, 
the scale on the thermometer, longitude, latitude, the upward 
pull of a balloon compared with the force of gravity, and the 
graphic illustration of these upon horizontal and vertical lines 
— all these are famiiiar. 

" But the imaginary and complex numbers have been left 
enshrouded in mystery in most text-books. The books say, 
inter tineas, 'Here is V— i ; it means nothing; you can't 
imagine it; the writer knows nothing about it; let us have 
done with it, and go on.' Such is the way in which the nega- 
tive was treated in the early days of printed algebras, but now 
such treatment would be condemned as inexcusable. But 
there is really no more reason to-day for treating the imaginary 
so unintelligently than for presenting the negative as was the 
custom four hundred years ago. The graphic treatment of 
the complex number is not to-day so difficult for the student 
about to take up quadratics as is the presentation of the nega- 
tive to one just beginning algebra. 

" Briefly, the following outline will suffice to illustrate the 
procedure for the complex number : — 

54321 12345 

1 1 1 1 1 I I l I 1 1 



" 1. Negative numbers may be represented in a direction 
opposite to that of positive numbers, starting from an arbitrary 
point called zero. Hence, when we leave the domain of posi- 
tive numbers, direction enters. But there are infinitely many 
directions in a plane besides those of the positive and negative 
numbers, and hence there may be other numbers than these. 

1 See Beman & Smith's " Elements of Algebra," p. 17. 



252 



TEACHING OF PARTICULAR BRANCHES 



" 2. When we add positive and negative numbers we find 
some results which seem strange to a beginner. For example, 
if we add + 4 and — 3 we say the sum is 1, although the length 
1 is less than the length 4 or the length — 3 ; yet this does 
not trouble us because we have considered something besides 
length, namely, direction ; it is true, however, that the sum of 
4 and — 3 is less than the absolute value of either. This is 
seen to be so reasonable, however, from numerous illustrations 
(as the combined weight of a balloon pulling up 3 lbs., tied to 
a 4-lb. weight), that we come not to notice the strangeness of 
it ; graphically, we think of the sum as obtained by starting 
from o, going 4 in a positive direction, then 3 in a negative 
direction, the sum being the distance from o to the stopping- 
place. 



"3. If we multiply 1 by 
V— 1 twice, we swing it 
counter-clockwise through 
180 , and obtain — 1 ; 
hence, if we multiply it 
by V — 1 once, we should 
swing it through 90 . 
Hence we may graphically 
represent V— 1 as the 
unit on the perpendicular 
axis YY', and this gives 
illustration to 



1, or by 




,X' 



-i 



V— 1, 2 V^ 



2^1 



T 

Y' 



V— 1, — 2 V- 1, — 3^— 



or, more briefly, ± i, ± 2/, ± 3/, ••• where i stands for V— 1. 
We therefore see that / is a symbol of quality (graphically of 
direction), just as is -f or — , and that — 3 ■ 52, 2V5, etc., are 



MATHEMATICS AND NATURE STUDIES 



253 




just as real as — 3 • 5, VT, etc - ^ * s as impossible to look out 
of a window —3-5 times as it is to look out —3-5/ times ; 
strictly, one number is as ' imaginary ' as the other, although 
the term has come by custom to apply to one and not to the 
other. 

" 4. The complex number 3 + 2/ is now readily understood. 
Just as 3 + ( — 2) is graphically represented by starting from 
an arbitrary zero, passing 3 units in a 
positive direction (say to the right) , then 
2 units in the opposite direction, calling 
the sum the distance from o to the 
stopping-point, so 3 + zi may be repre- 
sented graphically. Starting from o, 

pass in the positive direction (to the right in the figure) 3 units, 
then in the i direction 2 units, calling the sum the distance 
from o to the stopping-place. 

" Of course the question will arise as to the hypotenuse being 
the sum of the two sides of the right-angled triangle. But 
the case is parallel to that mentioned in paragraph 2 ; it 
is not the sum of the absolute values, any more than is 1 
the sum of the absolute values of 4 and — 3 ; it is the sum 
when we define addition for numbers involving direction as 
well as length. 

"A simple illustration from the parallelogram of forces is 
often used to advantage. 

" Suppose a force pulling 3 lbs. to the 
right (+3 lbs.) and another pulling 2 
lbs. upwards (+ 2* lbs.) ; required the 
resultant of the two. It is evident that 
this is OP, i.e., OP=$ + a/. 
"This elementary introduction to the subject of complex 
numbers shows that the ' imaginary ' element is easily removed, 




254 TEACHING OF PARTICULAR BRANCHES 

and that students about to begin quadratics are able to get a 4 
least an intimation of the subject. This is not the place for any 
adequate treatment of these numbers : such treatment is easily 
accessible. It is hoped that enough has been presented to 
render it impossible for any reader to be content with the 
absolutely meaningless and unjustifiable treatment found in 
many text-books." l 

257. The pedagogical value of mathematical instruc- 
tion, as a whole, depends chiefly on the extent to which 
it enters into and acts on the pupil's whole field of 
thought and knowledge. From this truth it follows, 
to begin with, that mere presentation does not suffice ; 
the aim must be rather to enlist the self-activity of the 
pupil. Mathematical exercises are essential. Pupils 
must realize how much they can do by means of mathe- 
matics. From time to time written work in mathe- 
matics should be assigned ; only the tasks set must be 
sufficiently easy. More should not be demanded and 
insisted on than pupils can comfortably accomplish. 
Some are attracted early by pure mathematics, espe- 
cially where geometry and arithmetic are properly com- 
bined. But a surer road to good results is applied 
mathematics, provided only the application is made to 

1 For an elementary presentation of the subject, see Beman and Smith's 
"Elements of Algebra," Boston, 1900. For a history of the subject, see 
Beman and Smith's translation of Fink's " History of Mathematics," 
Chicago, 1900, or Professor Beman's Vice-Presidential Address before 
the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1898, or the 
author's " History of Modern Mathematics," already mentioned. 



MATHEMATICS AND NATURE STUDIES 255 

an object in which interest has already been aroused in 
other ways. 

But the pupils ought not to be detained too long over 
a narrow round of mathematical problems ; there must 
also be progress in the presentation of the theory. 
Were the only requisite to stimulate self-activity, the 
elementary principles might very easily suffice for 
countless examples affording the pupil the pleasure 
of increasing facility, and even the delight arising from 
inventions of his own, without giving him any concep- 
tion of the greatness of the science. Many problems 
may be compared to witty conceits, which may be wel- 
come enough in the right place, but which should not 
encroach on the time for work. There ought to be no 
lingering over things that with advancing study solve 
themselves, merely for the sake of performing feats of 
ingenuity. Incomparably more important than mere 
practice examples is familiarity with the facts of nature, 
and such familiarity renders all the better service to 
mathematics if combined with technical knowledge. 

258. Even young children may very well busy them- 
selves with picture books illustrating zoology, and later 
with analyses of plants which they have gathered. If 
early accustomed to this, they will, with some guidance, 
readily go on by themselves. At a later time they are 
taught to observe the external characteristics of minerals. 
The continuation of the study of zoology is beset with 
some difficulties on account of the element of sex. 



256 TEACHING OF PARTICULAR BRANCHES 

Though industriously debated, there is no field of education 
more undecided both as to matter and method than nature 
work in the grades. Some scientists would teach large amounts 
of well-classified knowledge ; others are content when they 
have secured a hospitable frame of mind toward nature. If 
a love for flowers and birds can be cultivated in children, the 
latter class are satisfied that the best result has been attained. 
Thus a discussion arises as to which is the more valuable, atti- 
tude or knowledge. 

It is feared by some that any attempt to teach real science, 
even of an elementary kind, will result in a paralysis of per- 
manent scientific interest. To this it is replied that a senti- 
mental regard for aesthetic aspects of nature insures little or no 
true scientific interest. 

Both sides are, in large measure, wrong ; for, though appar- 
ently antagonistic in their aims, they make merely a different 
application of a common principle, which, if not wholly errone- 
ous, is at least inadequate. Both parties assume that the end 
to be attained in nature study is something only remotely re- 
lated to the pupil's practical life. One would present nature 
for its own sake as scientific knowledge ; the other would offer 
it for its own sake as a source of aesthetic or other feeling. 
The scientist often assumes that to a pupil a scientific fact or 
law is its own excuse for being. He thinks there must be a 
natural, spontaneous response to such a fact or law in the 
breast of every properly constituted child, so that, to imbue 
the mind with the scientific spirit, it is only necessary to ex- 
pose it to scientific fact. 

Perhaps, unfortunately for the normal child, this view is 
somewhat encouraged by the biographies of scientific geniuses. 
On the other hand, those who hold the poetic view of nature 
assume that there must be a native response to natural beau- 



MATHEMATICS AND NATURE STUDIES 257 

ties in every child ; so that the true method is to expose him 
to nature's beauty, when rapture is sure to follow. Un- 
fortunately again for the pupil, this view is also encouraged 
by the influence of the nature poets. The result is that 
natural science is presented as an end in itself — in the one 
case as scientific knowledge, in the other as the lovable 
in nature. 

While it may be admitted that a few children will respond 
now to the one stimulus, now to the other, the great mass are 
not thrilled with rapture at nature's beauty, nor are they fet- 
tered by scientific interest in her laws. To become an object 
of growing interest to children, nature must have a better basis 
than natural childish delight in the novel, or reverence for 
scientific law. The first of these is evanescent, the second 
feeble. 

We may agree with the scientist as with the poet, that both 
science and poetic appreciation are desirable ends, but they 
cannot be imparted to the childish mind by didactic fiat. 

If there is one service greater than another that Herbart 
has rendered to education, it is in bringing clearly to our con- 
sciousness the supreme importance of the principle of apper- 
ception, or mental assimilation, as a working basis for educative 
processes. So long as a fact or a principle or system of knowl- 
edge stands as an end in itself, just so long is it a thing apart 
from the real mental life of the child. Even a formally correct 
method of presentation, should it even appeal at once to all 
' six ' classes of interest, will fail to create more than a fac- 
titious mental enthusiasm. It is like conversation that is 
' made ' interesting ; it may suffice to lighten a tedious hour, 
but it awakens no vital response. When, however, the natural 
love of novelty or inborn response to the true is reinforced by 
a sense of warm personal relationship, when the facts of forest, 



258 TEACHING OF PARTICULAR BRANCHES 

or plain, or mine, or animal life flood the mind with unex- 
pected and significant revelations concerning either the pres- 
ent or the past in close personal touch with the learner, then 
instruction rests upon an apperceptive basis. Abstractions 
that before were pale, beauties that were cold, now receive 
color and warmth because they get a new subjective valuation 
that before was impossible. 

A sedate sheep nibbling grass or resting in the shade, a 
skipping lamb gambolling on the green, are suitable objects 
of nature study. Their pelts, their hoofs, their horns, their 
wool, are worthy of note as scientific facts. A diluted interest 
may even be added by recitation of the nursery rhymes about 
" Little Bo-Peep " and " Mary had a Little Lamb." But these 
are devices for the feeble-minded. 

If the teacher can reveal to the pupil the function of wool 
in making garments for the race, and can lead him to repeat 
the processes by which, from time immemorial, the wool has 
been spun into yarn and woven into cloth; if, at the same 
time, the influence of this industry upon the home life, both 
of men and women, can be shown, the study of the sheep be- 
comes worthy the attention even of a boy who can play foot- 
ball or of a girl who can cook. The literature of the sheep is 
no longer infantile or fatuous. We have a gamut reaching from 
Penelope to Priscilla. In the words of Professor Dewey : " The 
child who is interested in the way in which men lived, the 
tools they had to do with, the transformation of life that arose 
from the power and leisure thus gained, is eager to repeat like 
processes in his own action ; to make utensils, to reproduce 
processes, to rehandle materials. Since he understands their 
problems and their successes only by seeing what obstacles and 
what resources they had from nature, the child is interested in 
field and forest, ocean and mountain, plant and animal. . . . 



MATHEMATICS AND NATURE STUDIES 2$9 

The interest in history gives a more human coloring, a wider 
significance, to his own study of nature. 1 

The conclusion arising from this argument is that nature 
study as an end in itself, or a thing apart from the real or 
imagined experiences of the pupil, is but a faint reflection of 
what it may become under a more rational treatment. In 
order of time, nature study in the earliest grades may indeed 
rest upon the mere delight of the childish mind in the new, 
the strange, the beautiful, and especially in the motion of live 
creatures, and may be reinforced by childish literature. When 
boyhood and girlhood begin, however, then the industrial 
motive, first in the home environment, then of primitive times, 
becomes the chief reliance for an abiding interest. In the 
reproduction of primitive processes, there is of necessity a 
historical element. When nature has attained a firm appercep- 
tive basis through imitation of primitive industrial processes, and 
has obtained a historical background, then it may properly be 
further reinforced by literary reference. The poetic value of 
nature will now appeal to the mind with a potency that springs 
from inner life and experience; scientific law will now have 
some chance of appealing to the mind with something of the 
same reverence that Kant besought for the moral law. The 
true order of appeal in nature study is therefore as follows : For 
infancy, natural curiosity and delight in the movements of 
living creatures ; for the age of boyhood and girlhood, imitation, 
real or imaginary, of processes depending upon natural objects 
and forces, together with historical and literary reference ; 
secondarily, nature work may also appeal to youthful interest 
in natural law or beauty. 

1 Dewey, John, "The Aim of History in Elementary Education," 
Elementary School Record, November, 1900, University of Chicago Press. 



260 TEACHING OF PARTICULAR BRANCHES 

259. With the foregoing should be conjoined much 
attention to external nature, to the changes correspond- 
ing to the seasons, and to means of intercommunication. 

Under this head belongs, on the one hand, obser- 
vation of the heavenly bodies, — where sun and moon 
rise, how the latter waxes and wanes, where the north 
star is found, and what arcs are described by the 
brighter stars and the most conspicuous constella- 
tions. 

Here belongs, on the other hand, technological 
knowledge, acquired partly through direct observation, 
partly through lessons in descriptive physical science. 
Technology ought not to be considered merely from 
the side of the so-called material interests. It fur- 
nishes very important connecting links between the 
apprehension of the facts of nature and human pur- 
poses. Every growing boy and youth should learn 
to handle the ordinary tools of the carpenter as well 
as rule and compasses. Mechanical skill would often 
prove far more useful than gymnastic exercises. The 
former benefits the mind, the latter benefit the body. 
With burgher schools should go manual training- 
schools, which does not mean that the latter must 
necessarily be trade schools. Finally, every human 
being ought to learn how to use his hands. The 
hand has a place of honor beside language in elevat- 
ing mankind above the brute. 

The foregoing store of information also enters into 



MATHEMATICS AND NATURE STUDIES 26 1 

the study of geography ; how, will appear in the next 
chapter. 

The soundness of the foregoing remarks is witnessed by the 
rapid development of manual training-schools in the last decade, 
and the almost universal desire, if not practice, of providing 
considerable amounts of manual training for the pupils of the 
grammar grades. The girls usually have some form of sewing 
and cooking, while the boys have sloyd or other similar tool 
work in wood. The rationale of requiring girls to do carpenter 
work instead of the forms of manual exercise that especially 
pertain to their sex is not yet satisfactorily established. 

260. On the observation of the heavenly bodies is 
based popular astronomy, which provides a test as to 
whether the mathematical imagination has been prop- 
erly cultivated. 

261. Elementary statics and mechanics will serve 
as an early introduction to physics, which combines 
with the easiest portions of chemistry. Long before 
physics is formally presented, it must be foreshadowed 
by many things stimulating the attention. Notice is 
directed to clocks, mills, the most familiar phenomena 
of atmospheric pressure, to electrical and magnetic 
toys, etc. In burgher schools, at least, so much must 
be said about buildings and machines as is necessary 
to incite to further study in the future. The same 
holds for the fundamental facts of physiology. 

262. As often as a new topic for study is intro- 
duced, it is important to give prominence to some of 



2^2 TEACHING OF PARTICULAR BRANCHES^ 

the salient facts, and these must be accurately memo- 
rized. Moreover, pupils need to have practice in 
exact description. Where practicable, these descrip- 
tions are corrected by actually looking at the objects 
themselves. 

Hasty and superficial observation of objects pre- 
sented for inspection always calls for severe criticism ; 
else collections and experiments become valueless. 
Nor should objects be shown too lavishly ; pupils must 
often be told beforehand what they will have to look 
for. Frequently it may serve the purpose to employ 
successively good descriptions, pictures, and direct 
observation. 



CHAPTER IV 

Geography 

263. As to geography, -at least two courses may- 
be distinguished. One of these is analytic and begins 
with the pupil's immediate neighborhood, the topog- 
raphy of the place, while the other starts with the 
globe. Here only the former will be discussed, as 
the latter can be had directly from good text-books. 

Note. — The usual method of taking the globe as the point 
of departure would be less open to criticism, if, in order to render 
the conception of the earth's sphericity more intelligible, attention 
were directed to the shape of the moon, the observation being 
carried on occasionally with the aid of a telescope. But even if 
this is done, it still remains a blunder to substitute the faint and 
vague idea of a huge ball for direct perception. Equally injudi- 
cious is the plan of beginning with Portugal and Spain. That 
spot where pupils and teacher are at the moment is the point from 
which the pupils must take their bearings, and in thought extend 
their horizon. It will never do to pass over the natural starting- 
points provided by sense-perception. 

Had the note to this section been properly heeded, we 
should not have had to wait for fifty years after Herbart's 
death before witnessing the present rational methods of apply- 
ing geographical science to elementary education. It is the 
proud boast of the modern elementary geography that it begins 

263 



264 TEACHING OF PARTICULAR BRANCHES 

with a study of the pupil's actual environment. The term 
home geography has now become a familiar one. It signi- 
fies that the pupil is taught to observe the geographical ele- 
ments as they exist in his own neighborhood. He studies hills, 
watercourses, soil, woods, lakes, together with the industrial 
phenomena that come within the reach of his investigation. 
Upon this primary sense-basis he rears the structure of his 
geographical knowledge. 

264. Geography is an associating science, and use 
must be made of the opportunities it offers for binding 
together a variety of facts, none of which should be 
allowed to remain isolated in the mind of the learner. 
It is not the mathematical portion, supplemented and 
made interesting by popular astronomy, that serves 
as the first connecting link between mathematics and 
history (second course); even the rudiments of geog- 
raphy may, on the basis of observation exercises, fur- 
nish practice in the determination of triangles which 
occur on the first maps used, although this step is not 
always necessary when once some skill has been ac- 
quired in singling out features worthy of note. (The 
determination of position by latitude and longitude 
is, for the first course, as irrational as the action of 
a traveller in Germany or France would be if he 
set about to put together the picture of the places 
where he expects to remain, with the aid of their 
relation to the equator and the first meridian.) 

Physical geography presupposes some knowledge 



GEOGRAPHY 265 

of nature, and furnishes the occasion for enriching 
that knowledge. Political geography designates the 
manner in which man inhabits and uses the earth's 
surface. It is the pedagogical aim of instruction in 
geography to associate all this. 

265. The teacher must cultivate the art of narra- 
tion ; his accounts must resemble those of a traveller. 
But the narrative should conflict with the determina- 
tion of the relative position of places (by grouping 
them about one principal place, and in the case of 
more than one by the use of triangles) as little as, 
in teaching history, the story of events should conflict 
with the scheme of chronology. The two go together. 
The narrative is to present a clear picture, and to 
this end requires the support of a few fixed points 
in space. On the other hand, these points should 
not remain isolated ; they are to be connected by the 
lines of the picture. 

266. It is not a matter of indifference how many 
unfamiliar names are mentioned in one minute or 
hour. Nor is it immaterial whether they are uttered 
before or after perception of the picture which the 
map presents. The first requisite is that every map 
placed before the pupils be conceived of as a country ; 
three, at most four, names of rivers, and the names 
of a few mountains are sufficient; completeness is 
out of place here. The few names given provide 
ample opportunity for fixing the position of notable 



266 TEACHING OF PARTICULAR BRANCHES 

points, both with reference to one another and to the 
boundary lines of the country. 

Due prominence having been given to these geo- 
graphical features, they should then be connected, say 
with the aid of a blackboard, on which they are roughly 
sketched one by one, and properly joined together 
afterward. In the case of the sources and outlets 
of rivers, this may be done by a line to indicate the 
course. If now the pupils have made good previous 
use of their eyes, especially if they have noticed the 
fall of brooks and rivers, and have observed the slope 
of the ground in a particular region, — if they have 
not, the deficiency must be made good first of all, — it 
will not be too early to pass on to a general description 
of the appearance which the country under considera- 
tion would present to a traveller. And now the time 
has come for a somewhat fuller mention of the names 
of rivers and mountains, but these names must at once 
be gone over several times by the pupils. Doing so 
will reveal whether the list of new names has been 
made too long ; it is often largely due to carelessness in 
this respect, if the study of geography proves barren 
or onerous. Next in order follow detailed descriptions 
of particular wonders of nature, where there are such. 
Attention is then given to some of the principal cities, 
mention being made of the number of inhabitants. 
Here the determination of relative location comes in 
again, and for this the self-activity of the pupils is 



GEOGRAPHY 267 

indispensable. Finally, human industry and art, so 
far as they relate to the products of the country, 
together with the little of political organization that 
pupils can grasp. The names of the provinces should 
ordinarily be omitted from the first course. . 

This section is suggestive of the old geography of the 
last half century, — location, names, maps, the barren details 
of the science. Geography is something richer than all 
this. The old geography was political in the foregoing 
sense. The first break was in making it physiographical, the 
last in making it social. Names as such are nothing, and 
physical facts little more, but both become of value as soon as 
they are brought into relation to man, — his life, his work, his 
recreation. Geography is not essentially the location of places, 
nor is it physiography, but it is a study of the essential facts 
concerning the surface of the earth as they are related to man 
himself ; it is, in short, human in the fullest sense. It gives a 
concrete explanation of civilization ; it explains the production, 
the exchange, and, to some extent, the consumption of goods. 
It contrasts countries, not so much by square miles, as by the 
number of miles of railroads they possess. (The most momen- 
tous fact of modern civilization is the railroad. Twelve billions 
of dollars are invested in it in the United States alone. In 
view of these facts, what shall be said of those recent geogra- 
phies that keep the children poring over primitive maps for 
years — maps without a suggestion of a railroad in them ? 
This is an illustration of how prone education is to lag behind 
the progress of society.) 

267. The reviews, which should be frequent, must 
steadily work toward a growing firmness of association 



268 TEACHING OF PARTICULAR BRANCHES 

between names and places. Each name is to be re- 
ferred to the place it designates; hence the sequence 
of names must often be reversed, and the map looked 
over in all directions and from all points of view. 
How far to go is determined in accordance with indi- 
vidual capacity. From some, only what is absolutely 
essential can be demanded; from others, much more, 
in order that they may exert themselves properly. 

268. In the midst of other studies on which greater 
stress is laid, geography is as a rule slighted by pupils 
and sometimes even by teachers. This attitude merits 
severe criticism. Instruction in geography may be re- 
duced to a minimum, the first course even requires this, 
but it should not be disparaged. With many pupils, 
geography is the first study which gives them the con- 
sciousness that they can learn as they are expected to 
learn. With all pupils, geography must connect the 
remaining studies and must keep them connected. 
Without it everything remains unstable. Historical 
events lack places and distances; products of nature 
are without the regions where they are found ; popular 
astronomy, which is called upon so often to prevent 
and dispel erroneous notions, is deprived of its very 
basis, and the geometrical imagination of one of its 
most important incentives. If the facts of knowledge 
are allowed to fall asunder in this way, instruction 
endangers the whole of education. 



CHAPTER V 

The Mother-tongue 

269. There would be less controversy about lan- 
guage teaching if existing differences in conditions 
were given proper attention. 

The most general distinction to make is that between 
understanding and speaking. The distance between 
the two is a given factor at the time when regular in- 
struction begins. It is very great in some cases, and, 
again, slight in others, according to individual aptitude 
and early surroundings. 

270. First of all, one's language was acquired by 
hearing it spoken, by receiving it from others, by imi- 
tation ; it was refined or vulgar ; it was perceived accu- 
rately or indistinctly ; it was imitated by organs, good, 
bad, or indifferent. Little by little the imperfections of 
the earliest stage are outgrown, where cultured per- 
sons set a daily example and insist on correctness of 
speech. Sometimes, however, it takes years to bring 
about such a result. 

271. Another factor, and one deeply rooted in indi- 
vidual temperament, is the stronger or weaker impulse 
toward expression through language. This fact ele- 

269 



27O TEACHING OF PARTICULAR BRANCHES 

vates the language of each one above mere imitation ; 
its improvement must start from the thoughts which it 
seeks to express. Striking progress of this kind often 
occurs during adolescence. 

The differences noted in this and the two preceding sections 
are psychological, hence common to German and American 
children. The problem of teaching American children their 
mother-tongue, assumed to be English, is both harder and 
easier than to teach German to German children. It is easier 
in that English is mostly uninflected, hence unencumbered by 
nice distinctions in grammatical form. This same fact, on the 
other hand, causes didactic difficulties, since most teachers are 
at a loss as to what definite body of knowledge they should 
or can impart that will train the child into a mastery of good 
English speech. The last twenty years have seen a large num- 
ber of experiments on the part of authors in the effort to pre- 
sent a body of information and exercises calculated to secure 
a good training in the mother-tongue. These efforts have met 
with but partial success, owing to the inherent difficulties of 
the subject. Many who can teach a foreign language, where 
there is a movable fulcrum of difficulties to be overcome, such 
as those found in inflection, or in the meaning of foreign 
words, fail when confronted by a language that is practically 
uninflected, and in which the words are easily understood. 

The old recourse was technical grammar. But this is an 
analytical study, calculated to lead to apprehension of subtle 
meanings, rather than to an instinct for correct form. Further- 
more, the grammar cannot be successfully studied until after 
the habits of speech are fairly fixed. For these reasons, it 
bears much the same relation to living speech that formal 
logic does to real thinking. Grammar makes the mind keen 



THE MOTHER-TONGUE 27 1 

to detect formal errors of speech, just as logic trains one to 
detect fallacies in reasoning. 

The first important instrument for securing good English in 
the early primary grades is narration by the teacher and repe- 
tition by the children. This means, potent enough to form 
the speech of any child whether from the slums or from the 
homes of those who know no English, is rarely utilized up to 
the full measure of its efficiency. Teachers are filled with the 
prepossession that they must enable their pupils to write good 
English, forgetting that if the mind is habituated to think in 
good English first, the, problem of writing it is well-nigh solved. 
The requisites for successful oral training in the mother-tongue 
are first, the selection of a body of interesting and appropri- 
ate literature, and second, skill in narration by the teacher. 
Given these two things, and we have the first in great abun- 
dance, and every child will be able in a year to give extended 
and correct speech within the range of his sphere of thought to 
an almost unlimited extent. His tenacious memory for forms 
frequently heard, together with his delight in repeating almost 
word for word stories told in his presence, will produce aston- 
ishing facility in correct speech. As much of this may be 
written as seems best, but it is probable that there would not 
be great loss if a child were not called upon to write a ' com- 
position ' before he is ten or twelve years old. Could we be 
sure he would go through the high school, formal writing might 
be postponed until he enters it. Not much is ever gained 
by attempts to produce fruit before its natural period for 
appearing. 

Upon the basis of this training in correct oral speech, the 
children may begin, when nine or ten years of age, to have sys- 
tematic language lessons, which should be calculated to pro- 
duce two results : first, a facile use of the pen in recording 



272 TEACHING OF PARTICULAR BRANCHES 

thought, special caution being given not to weary the mind 
and body too much by unduly extending the length of the 
written exercises ; second, an inductive approach, through brief 
written exercises, toward the classifications and distinctions of 
technical grammar. To be of use, this latter requirement 
should be clearly understood. The method of approach is 
purely synthetic. It consists in devices to enable the pupil 
repeatedly to use a given construction, say a relative pronoun, 
until the name and construction seem natural from use alone. 1 
At the age of thirteen or fourteen the analytical study of 
grammar should be begun. The essential thing here is that 
the pupil should connect words with the ideas they express, 
and sentences with the thoughts that give rise to them. 2 Seeing 
mental distinctions clearly, he has small difficulty in their writ- 
ten or oral expression. 

272. Now such facts might seem to point to the con- 
clusion that no special periods of instruction are needed 
for the mother-tongue, or at least not for language 
lessons alone. On the one hand, it might be urged 
that cultured teachers will improve the language of 
their pupils by their mere example, and by the occa- 
sional corrections which will of course be necessary; 
while, on the other hand, the gradual progress of 
mental development will shape the means of expres- 
sion from within, to the natural limits of individual 

1 For extended illustration of this point, see the " Annotator's Language 
Lessons," the Werner School Book Co., New York, Boston, and Chicago. 

2 This position is best exemplified by Mr. George P. Brown in his 
" Essentials of English Grammar," the Werner School Book Co., New 
York, Boston, and Chicago. 



THE MOTHER-TONGUE 273 

capacity. But before accepting the view here given, 
we need to remind ourselves, in the first place, that 
for a long time the educated teacher is only imperfectly 
understood by the uneducated listener, and that in- 
struction is very much impeded if each unusual turn 
of expression necessitates an inquiry as to whether its 
meaning is clear. 

273. But this is not all. Language is also to be 
read and written. Hence, it becomes a standing 
object for consideration, and, to one whose knowledge 
of it is deficient, a source of embarrassment. Accord- 
ingly, the first thing for the teacher to do is to show 
analytically, on the basis of what has been read or 
written, how the meaning would be lost or altered if 
either single words were interchanged, or the inflec- 
tional endings (especially in German) were incorrectly 
chosen. That the synthesis of sentences should fol- 
low next, advancing step by step toward greater com- 
plexity, especially by means of various conjunctions, 
may be assumed to be well understood. 

274. Now if all experienced equal difficulty in their 
reading and writing, the language lessons designed as 
a remedy would commend themselves in all cases, 
and might fittingly be carried to the same extent 
everywhere. 

But here the widest divergence appears. Accord- 
ingly, where many are being taught together, the 
teacher will seek to connect language work with other 



274 TEACHING OF PARTICULAR BRANCHES 

subjects. Thus, in the course of the same recitation, 
analytic instruction may be directed to the language 
side for some pupils, while for others it may be 
given a far wider scope. Moreover, the accompanying 
written exercises may have a corresponding diversity. 

275. The work of a recitation period will be fur- 
ther diversified by the introduction of exercises in 
reading aloud, and in oral reproduction. But never 
will it be possible to raise all pupils to the same 
plane of proficiency. Here, above all, the determining 
power of individuality must be acknowledged. 

276. For older boys and young men, the work in 
the mother-tongue will consist partly in the study of 
excellent examples of the various kinds of poetry 
and oratory, partly in the writing of essays. Such 
study will prove the more profitable, the more perfect 
the models, the more suitably they are adapted to the 
stage of culture already attained by the student, and 
the more scrupulously the teacher refrains from forc- 
ing upon him a literary taste not congenial to his 
nature. The least promising of all written exercises 
are those in letter-writing. Confidential letters every 
one can write, each in his own way. Best of all are 
written exercises with a definite and rich store of 
thought to draw from and admitting of various forms 
of treatment. Several may then emulate each other 
in handling the same theme, and the process of cor- 
recting will awaken greater interest in consequence. 



CHAPTER VI 

Greek and Latin 

277. As is well known, the exposition of grammati- 
cal distinctions and of the many turns of expression 
whereby language may become an adequate symboliza- 
tion of thought, gains very materially in clearness by 
a comparison of the mother-tongue with Latin and 
Greek. Even with boys not more than eight years 
old the attempt may be made to utilize this advantage 
in the teaching of English, whether it has been finally 
decided, or not, that they are to take the regular classi- 
cal course. Some boys learn, without much trouble, 
enough of Latin inflections to enable them soon to 
translate short sentences from the mother-tongue into 
Latin, and vice versa. 

The present plan in Germany is to have boys in the 
gymnasia begin the study of Latin at the age of ten. The 
study is continued for a period of nine years. Greek is begun 
three years later and continued for six years. In the United 
States the prevailing plan is to postpone the study of Latin 
until the pupil enters the high school at the age of fourteen or 
fifteen. Good private schools and many city grammar schools 
permit children to begin when some two years younger than 

275 



276 TEACHING OF PARTICULAR BRANCHES 

this. The Report on College Entrance Requirements made 
before the National Educational Association in 1899 suggested 
the propriety of extending the influence of the high school over 
the two highest grades of the grammar school, making in effect 
a six-year high school course. For students who expect to 
enter college or technical schools this plan offers great advan- 
tages, since it permits the desirable preparation to be dis- 
tributed over six years instead of being concentrated into four. 

278. This experiment will not, however, be long 
continued ; since, with the large majority of pupils, 
the difficulties accumulate so rapidly as to lead un- 
avoidably to the admission that the burden cannot be 
assumed merely for the sake of incidental advantages. 
Moreover, the customary view, handed down from 
the time of the Reformation, of the relation of the 
classical languages to the sciences, and to the needs 
of the age, is undergoing a change more and more 
apparent from decade to decade. The labor implied 
in the study of the ancient languages now pays only 
where talent combines with the earnest purpose to 
achieve the most complete scholarship. 

This remark is prophetic of the enormous increase of in- 
struction in the sciences since Herbart's day, yet Latin has 
also enjoyed a phenomenal increase in popularity in American 
schools. According to the Report of the National Commis- 
sioner of Education the increase of enrollment in high schools 
for the years between 1890 and 1898 was 84 per cent, while 
the increase in the number of students pursuing Latin was 1 74 



GREEK AND LATIN 277 

per cent. 1 This surprising growth in the number pursuing an 
ancient language can hardly be accounted for by increased 
stringency in college entrance requirements in Latin, but must 
rather be ascribed to a growing conviction among the people 
that the study is indispensable in secondary education. That 
this must be the case is seen by the attendant circumstances. 
In the first place, Latin has become an elective in nearly all 
high schools ; in the next place, many rich equivalents are 
offered, both in science and in modern languages ; and finally 
our system of universal elementary education has sent large 
classes of persons into the secondary schools that have never 
previously been there. Yet the number of students electing 
this study grows by leaps and bounds. 

Note. — (1) The assertion is often heard that the ancient lan- 
guages supply a permanent standard by which to judge of the 
progress and the decay of modern languages ; also that the ancient 
classics must be regarded as furnishing the models for purity and 
beauty in style. These and similar contentions are undeniably 
correct, and carry the greatest weight, but they are unpedagogical. 
They embody the absolute requirement, but not that which younger 
pupils need for their culture ; and the large majority of those who 
are fitting themselves for official positions cannot afford to make 
themselves guardians of language and style. They must take 
language as it is, and acquire the manner of expression which is 
adapted to the world of affairs. Those higher cares belong to 
authors, but no one is educated for authorship. 

(2) It is a familiar notion that the difficulty would diminish if 
the ancient languages were begun later, that then the ability to 
learn would prove greater. On the contrary, the older the pupil 
the stronger the tendency of his thought-mass toward exclusion. 
Memory work must be introduced early, especially where its useful- 

1 Bennett and Bristol, "The Teaching of Latin and Greek." Longmans, 
Green & Co., New York, 1900. 



278 TEACHING OF PARTICULAR BRANCHES 

ness depends wholly on the acquisition of facility. It is essential 
to begin early in order to make it possible to proceed slowly and to 
avoid unpedagogical pressure. Four hours a week of Latin do not 
hurt a healthy, bright boy, provided his other tasks are arranged 
with pedagogical correctness. To put modern languages first would 
be to put the cart before the horse. Useful enough, however, are 
single French and English expressions relating to everyday life. 
They will be of service in acquiring the pronunciation ; but a few 
phrases do not constitute the teaching of a language. 

279. The manner of teaching the ancient languages, 
where they are regarded as a matter of necessity or 
conventionality, no account being taken of pedagogi- 
cal considerations, need not be discussed here. It 
must rather be admitted at once that no pedagogical 
means whatever exist, whereby those who live with 
their interests strictly confined to the present could 
be brought to 1 acquire, with genuine sympathy, the 
content of the works of antiquity. 

American teachers in estimating the value of Latin for the 
high school student lay more stress upon training in the mastery 
of the mother-tongue than upon the literary contents of the 
classical writings. Professor Bennett in his treatment of 
"The Teaching of Latin in the Secondary School," 1 places 
in strong light the splendid linguistic training a youth under- 
goes when taught by a good teacher of this subject. In 
Germany, since Herbart's time, Professor Russell tells us that 
the teaching of Latin has fluctuated between two aims — " be- 
tween that view which makes the classics a purely formal dis- 
cipline, and that other view which bases the worth of such a 

1 Bennett and Bristol, " The Teaching of Latin and Greek," pp. 1 1-32, 
Longmans, Green & Co., New York, 1900. 



GREEK AND LATIN 279 

study on the acquisition of humanistic culture, in contact with 
' the best thoughts of the best men of antiquity.' In the one 
case it is considered of equal value as a means of preparation 
for all trades and professions dependent on intellectual acumen ; 
in the other case it is of worth only for those who can practi- 
cally apply the technical knowledge thereby acquired, or may 
have sufficient leisure to enjoy its sesthetic qualities. It is a 
question of making the ancient literature a means to an end 
or an end in itself." 1 

The dogma of formal discipline as a leading aim in educa- 
tion has nowhere been more discredited than among Herbar- 
tian writers. A judicious estimate of its truth and error is made 
by Professor Hinsdale. 2 His main conclusions are as follows : — 

1. The degree to which power generated by education is 
general depends upon the extent to which it energizes the 
mind, and particularly the extent to which it overflows into 
congruent channels. 

2. Such power is far more special than general; it is only 
in a limited sense that we can be said to have a store of mobil- 
ized mental power. 

3. No one kind of mental exercise — no few kinds — can 
develop the whole mind. 

4. No study, no single group of studies, contains within it- 
self the possibilities of a whole education. 

On the other hand, American students rarely study classics 
long enough to acquire much facility in mastering the literary 
contents of the ancient writers. If, to considerable extent, the 
idea of formal discipline is a delusive one, and the idea of a 

1 Russell, "German Higher Schools," Longmans, Green & Co., New 
York, 1899. 

2 Hinsdale, " Studies in Education," pp. 46-61, Werner School Book 
Co., Chicago, 1896. 



28o TEACHING OF PARTICULAR BRANCHES 

broad, humanistic culture is an illusion of the American school- 
master, we must justify the study of Latin upon other grounds. 
The linguistic advantages arising from it are obvious and de- 
cided. Among these stands first the mastery of the mother- 
tongue, first through the comparative study rendered necessary 
by translation, then by study of the roots of a large part of the 
English vocabulary, and more remotely by the light thrown by 
Latin upon history and institutional life. 

There is an advantage in Latin of great, though usually un- 
mentioned, importance, and that is its peculiar usefulness as an 
educational instrument, in that it presents to the pupil a gradu- 
ated scale of surmountable difficulties. In this respect it is 
surpassed only by mathematics. The difference between a 
good and a poor educational instrument lies in this: a study 
offering few surmountable obstacles is a poor educational in- 
strument, for the pupil can find no fulcrum upon which to use 
his mental powers. Thus he may stare at a natural object 
when directed to observe its characteristics, but he finds it 
hard to think when no thought problem is presented to him. 
But a study that involves thought problems of a definite and 
solvable kind is a good educational instrument, for the pupil 
finds something to move and a fulcrum upon which he may 
exert his power. Translation from an ancient language exer- 
cises the working powers of a student up to their highest effi- 
ciency, for the translation of ten sentences may easily provide 
the hardest kind of work for an hour ; if ten lines do not, then 
more lines will. When a foreign language ceases to offer such 
surmountable difficulties, we leave it for something else that 
does offer them. 

280. Pedagogically considered, every difference in 
the degree of vivid realization of antiquity, in the 



GREEK AND LATIN 28 I 

degree of its correlation with other main departments 
of knowledge, and in the extent to which a disagree- 
able aftertaste of school-day drudgery is prevented, 
determines the greater or smaller value to be ascribed 
to the knowledge acquired. If the same realization 
could be secured without the ancient languages and 
without the potency of early impressions, then the 
studies mentioned in preceding chapters, which out- 
line the work of burgher schools, would leave nothing 
further to be desired ; and the study of the ancient lan- 
guages in gymnasia would be a necessary evil, highly 
as their incidental advantages are usually extolled. 

281. But languages alone give to a boy a picture 
neither of bygone ages nor of men of the past ; to 
him they are solely troublesome tasks imposed by the 
teacher. Nor can golden maxims, fables, and short 
narratives change his attitude. For even if these are 
well suited to the youthful mind, they do not materi- 
ally offset the aversion to the work on stems, which 
have to be memorized ; inflections, which must be prac- 
tised; and conjunctions, which are required for guid- 
ance in the study of periods. 

Ancient history (243, 246) is the only possible 
groundwork for the pedagogical treatment of the 
ancient languages. 

282. Now it is true that if Latin is begun first, 
Eutropius and Cornelius Nepos suggest themselves as 
suitable authors for study, as soon as the merest rudi- 



282 TEACHING OF PARTICULAR BRANCHES 

merits of Latin have been learned in connection with 
instruction in the mother-tongue (277). And their use 
is not to be entirely condemned, provided the teacher 
takes it upon himself to make the past present through 
narration. But, as is well known, these authors are 
after all very meagre, and, besides, where to look for a 
path beyond them still remains an open question. 

283. The reasons which accord to Homer's " Odyssey " 
the preference for early use are familiar. 1 They are 
patent to every one who attentively reads the " Odys- 
sey " with constant reference to the various main classes 
of interest which teaching is to awaken (83-94). But 
the question involved is not merely one of immediate 
effect, but also of finding points of departure for the 
later stages of instruction. There can be no better 
preparation for ancient history than to establish an 
interest in ancient Greece by means of the Homeric 
story. At the same time, the soil is being made ready 
for the cultivation of taste, and for language study. 

To reasons of this kind, derived directly from the 
chief aim of all teaching and opposed only by tradi- 
tion (the conventional doing of the classics), - the phi- 
lologists will have to listen some time, if they are not 

1 These reasons apply in no way to the " Iliad," but only to the " Odys- 
sey." Moreover, it is presupposed that religious feeling has been sufficiently 
awakened long beforehand. In that case the mythical elements can do 
no harm whatever, for, in so far as they are inconsistent with religious 
feeling, their effect is decidedly repellent, and renders an excess of illu- 
sion impossible. 



GREEK AND LATIN 283 

willing that, with the growing importance of history 
and of the natural sciences, and with the increasing 
pressure of material interests, the study of Greek in 
schools should be pushed into a corner and suffer a 
reduction similar to that which has already taken place 
in the case of Hebrew. (A few decades ago Greek 
came very near being remitted for all but those in- 
tending to study theology.) 

Of course, the " Odyssey " possesses no miraculous 
power to inspire those who have no talent whatever 
for language studies or do not take them seriously; 
nevertheless, as many years of experience have shown, 
it surpasses every other work of antiquity that might 
be selected in definite pedagogical effect. Moreover, 
its study does not preclude an early commencement 
of Latin (nor even of Greek, where that seems neces- 
sary); only Latin cannot be pushed with the custom- 
ary rapidity at the same time ; for the " Odyssey " 
requires an hour daily, and grammatical and lexico- 
logical work besides. 

Experience has proved that the grammatical rudi- 
ments pertaining to declension and conjugation must 
be worked over very carefully first, although reduced 
to what is absolutely essential. Besides, the first les- 
sons in the " Odyssey " ought not to exceed a few lines 
each time; and, during the first months, no accurate 
memorizing of words is to be demanded. But farther 
on the acquisition of a vocabulary must be vigorously 



284 TEACHING OF PARTICULAR BRANCHES 

insisted on ; in fact, it becomes the pupil's most neces- 
sary collateral work. By continued effort in this 
direction a considerable portion of the whole stock of 
words is gradually acquired; the language forms are 
supplied with the content to which they refer, and 
through which they become significant. The teacher 
must know exactly, not only when to hasten on, but 
also when to delay; for every perceptible gain in 
facility is likely to betray pupils into some careless- 
ness which needs to be corrected at once. With 
good pupils it is not infeasible to read the whole of 
the " Odyssey," since facility increases very rapidly 
toward the end. Nevertheless, such work should not 
extend much beyond two years ; otherwise weariness 
sets in, or time is taken from other things. In 
schools it will bei well to assign the first four books 
to one class, perhaps the class composed of pupils 
nine or ten years old, the next class to begin with 
Book V. To determine exactly how many books each 
class can work up thoroughly is unnecessary, as good 
translations can be used to fill in the gaps that occur. 
The reason for the division just made will be mani- 
fest at once upon a closer inspection of the " Odyssey." 
Some books more advanced pupils may later on read 
by themselves, but they should be expected to render an 
account of what they are doing. It is not necessary 
at this stage to explain in detail the rarer peculiari- 
ties of the Homeric dialect. Such things may well be 



GREEK AND LATIN 285 

deferred until, later in the course, the study of Homer 
(of the " Iliad ") is resumed. The teacher who is 
afraid of the difficulties connected with the plan pre- 
sented should remind himself of the fact that progress 
by any other path is equally beset with difficulties. 
While at work on Homer, care should be taken to 
keep pupils from being influenced simultaneously by 
such tales as those from the Arabian Nights, because 
they blunt the sense of the wonderful. 

284. Only two poets, two historians, and two phi- 
losophers need to be mentioned to indicate the continu- 
ation of the course. Homer and Virgil ; Herodotus 
and Caesar ; Plato and Cicero. What authors should 
precede these, or should intervene, or follow, may 
be left for circumstances to determine. Xenophon, 
Livy, Euripides, Sophocles, and Horace will probably 
always retain a place by the side of those mentioned ; 
Horace especially offers brief maxims, the after-effect 
of which the educator should by no means underesti- 
mate. It is obvious that Virgil and Herodotus are 
rendered much easier by taking up Homer first; on 
the other hand, the return to Homer (to the " Iliad ") 
during adolescence, is as little to be omitted, if only on 
account of mythology, as the return to ancient history 
for purposes of pragmatic study (250). Again, the 
syntactical scheme of the ancient languages, which 
involves far greater difficulties than do even inflec- 
tions and vocabulary, is more easily mastered by plac- 



286 TEACHING OF PARTICULAR BRANCHES 

ing the poets before the prose-writers, because then 
the pupils are not compelled to struggle with all the 
difficulties of sentence structure at once. At any rate, 
it is desirable that, just as the student's Greek vocabu- 
lary is built up from the " Odyssey," his hoard of Latin 
words should be drawn from the " ^Eneid." The latter, 
however, will hardly be read entirely, because it cannot 
be gone over with nearly the same rapidity as the latter 
books of the "Odyssey," when facility in reading has 
been attained. Caesar's " Bellum Gallicum " must be 
studied with exceptional carefulness, since its style 
comes nearer to being a desirable first model for the 
student of Latin than the style of the other authors in 
use. After this has been' accomplished, the strictly 
systematic teaching and memorizing of Latin syntax, 
together with selected brief examples, is in order as 
one of the main lines of work. In Plato several 
books of the " Republic," especially the first, second, 
fourth, and eighth, constitute a desirable goal. That 
Cicero should be revealed to young minds on his brill- 
iant side first, namely, as orator, need scarcely be 
mentioned. Later on his philosophical writings be- 
come important; but many passages require a fuller 
development of the subject-matter than is given by 
him. 

Cicero should frequently be read aloud, or rather 
declaimed, by the teacher. An orator demands the 
living voice; the usual monotonous reading by the 



GREEK AND LATIN 287 

pupils fails to do justice to him. As regards Tacitus 
for school use, there is a difference of opinion. Gen- 
erally speaking, authors that say much in few words 
are particularly welcome, not merely to the explaining 
teacher, but also to the responsive pupil. The oppo- 
site is true of Cicero ; he must be read rapidly in 
order to be appreciated. 

For a full discussion of Latin texts to be read, the reader is 
referred to Professor Bennett's chapters on " The Teaching of 
Latin in the Secondary Schools," 1 pp. 111-130. For a dis- 
cussion of the Greek texts, see Professor Bristol's exposition in 
the same volume. 

285. Experience has long since shown how much or 
how little can be done with students in Greek and 
Latin composition ; and no method will ever^be devised 
which would induce earlier than at present that degree 
of mental maturity which reveals itself in a good Latin 
style. So long as gymnasium pupils are no more 
select than they now are, the majority, so far as writ- 
ing Latin is concerned, will begin something that will 
never lead to successful performance. It would be 
better, instead, to practise diligently that which can be 
achieved, namely, composition during the recitation hour, 
with the assistance of the teacher, and, afterward co- 
operative consideration of the appointed task, by the 
pupils. This plan secures the advantage of set essays 

1 Bennett and Bristol, "The Teaching of Latin and Greek," Long- 
mans, Green & Co., New York, 1900. 



288 TEACHING OF PARTICULAR BRANCHES 

without the disadvantage of innumerable mistakes, the 
correction of which the pupil rarely remembers. Joint 
labor is interesting, and can be adapted to every age. 
As a substitute for essays, abstracts in Latin of texts 
previously interpreted are to be recommended, these 
abstracts to be made at first with the help and after- 
ward without the help of the book in question. To 
abstract does not mean to imitate, and ought not to 
mean that. To imitate Cicero requires Cicero's talent, 
and unless this exists, the attempt to imitate, it is to 
be feared, will result in cold artificiality. Even Caesar 
is not so simple that his style could be taught and 
learned. But many passages of Csesar may be memo- 
rized ; at first short sentences, then longer periods, 
finally whole chapters. The usefulness of this prac- 
tice is attested by experience. 



CHAPTER VII 

Further Specification of Didactics 

286. The more precise determination of the theory 
of instruction depends on the nature of particular 
subjects of instruction, on the individuality of the 
pupil, and on the external conditions of ethical life. 

287. Where the goal to be reached is technical 
knowledge and multiformity of scholarship, each 
branch of study asserts its claims to thoroughness 
without regard to the rest. Such is the attitude of the 
state, which requires many men with special training, 
together constituting an efficient whole. Hence it 
disseminates knowledge and establishes institutions of 
learning, without inquiring, save with reference to 
future official appointments, who the individuals are 
that avail themselves of the offered opportunities. 

288. The family, on the other hand, interested as 
it is in the individual, must take the pedagogical 
point of view, according to which every human being 
is to realize the best he is capable of. It is essential 
that families should grasp this distinction, and accord- 
ingly concern themselves, not with greatness of par- 

u 289 



290 TEACHING OF PARTICULAR BRANCHES 

ticular achievements, but with the totality of culture 
possible for the individual. 

289. Closely connected with the foregoing is the 
difference between interest and skill. Skill of vari- 
ous sorts can be obtained by force ; but it is of no 
value to general culture when the corresponding 
interest is lacking. 

Insistence on this distinction is a sufficient answer 
to much uncalled-for criticism and much unwarrant- 
able assumption of superior knowledge concerning the 
results of early stages of instruction. These results, 
it is charged, are inadequate; if this or that had been 
converted earlier into ability to do, greater progress 
would have been made. But when interest has not 
been aroused, and cannot be aroused, compulsory 
acquisition of skill is not only worthless, leading as 
it does to soulless mechanical activity, but positively 
injurious, because it vitiates the pupil's mental atti- 
tude and disposition. 

290. Whether the pupil's individuality will endure 
without injury the pressure which drill in skilful per- 
formance would necessitate, is a question which at 
times cannot be decided except by trial. Reading, 
arithmetic, grammar, are familiar instances. 

291. The more perfect the instruction, the greater 
the opportunity it affords for comparing the excel- 
lences and faults of the individuals receiving it simul- 
taneously. This point is of importance both to the 



FURTHER SPECIFICATION OF DIDACTICS 20, 1 

continuation of instruction and to training ; to the 
latter, because the teacher's insight into the causes of 
the faults which training has to combat is deepened. 

292. The ethical life may attach itself to views 
embracing the universe; it may, on the contrary, 
move within a very narrow range of thought. Now 
while it is true that external circumstances will usu- 
ally set limits to instruction, its scope should neverthe- 
less not be narrower, but in every way wider than 
the realm of necessary, everyday prudence. Other- 
wise the individual will always be in danger of exag- 
gerating his own importance and that of persons 
closely related to him. 

293. It is more difficult, as a rule, to extend the 
mental horizon in the direction of the past, than within 
the present. In teaching girls, therefore, and children 
from the lower classes, greater prominence is given to 
geography and whatever can be grouped about it than 
to historical studies. Again, in cases where a shorten- 
ing of the course of study becomes necessary, it be- 
comes well-nigh necessary to take account of the differ- 
ence in question. But, conversely, where the scope of 
instruction is to be wide, the historical side, because 
more difficult, must receive increased attention. 



SECTION II 

THE FAULTS OF PUPILS AND THEIR 
TREATMENT 

CHAPTER I 

General Differentiation 

294. Some faults are inherent; they are a part of 
the pupil's individuality. Others have sprung up in 
the course of time ; and of these, again, some have been 
influenced by the factor of individuality more than 
others. Faults that the pupil commits are left out of 
account for the present. With increasing years some 
of the inherent faults grow, others diminish. For there 
is a continual change of relation between that which 
man derives from experience, — between those ideas 
which rise spontaneously, and those masses of ideas 
which approach stability. There is, besides, an ever 
varying succession of diverse reproductions. All this 
change is pervaded throughout by the consciousness 
of one's own body (the original base of support for 
self-consciousness) with respect not merely to its needs, 
but also to its powers of motion and fitness for use. 

292 



GENERAL DIFFERENTIATION 293 

Again, the apprehension of the similar is being multi- 
plied ; the ideas of things approximate to general con- 
cepts. In addition, the process of judging is shaping 
more and more the material presented ; accordingly 
the manner in which the individual analyzes and puts 
in order his knowledge becomes gradually determined. 
On the one hand there is a growing confidence of 
affirmation ; on the other, questions remain, the answer 
to which is given over to the future. In part they be- 
come transformed into longing expectation. 

Upon all that has been enumerated, the physical 
organization of the individual exerts retarding and 
furthering influences. The effect of the body is seen 
in a certain physiological resistance to psychical pro- 
cesses, and in strong physical impulses far more com- 
plex, no doubt, than ordinary experience shows. 

295. Very frequently the fact forces itself upon us, 
that persons who have passed through many vicissi- 
tudes of fortune can nevertheless be recognized by 
individual traits that were already noticeable in youth. 
Here a certain uniformity reveals itself in the char- 
acteristic way and manner in which such persons 
involuntarily seize upon and work up various impres- 
sions. In Older to arrive at a just estimate of his 
pupils, the teacher should observe this permanent ele- 
ment as early as possible. 

Some always know the right moment and whither 
it calls them; they always perform the nearest duty, 



294 THE FAULTS OF PUPILS 

and have their stock of knowledge uniformly well in 
hand. Others bury themselves in thought, and give 
themselves up to hopes and fears, to plans and pro- 
jects: they live in the past or in the future, resent being 
disturbed by the present, and require time and effort 
to bring themselves back to it. Between the former 
and the latter are found others, who do indeed note 
the given and the present, not, however, to take it as 
it appears, but rather to look beyond, for the purpose 
of spying what lies concealed behind, or in order to 
move, displace, interfere, perhaps to distort, ridicule, 
and caricature. With many the tendency described 
is merely superficial. They play and tease — a com- 
mon manifestation of youthful animal spirits. Now 
the question arises : how much seriousness lies back 
of the playfulness. How much depth beneath the 
animated surface ? Here temperament enters as a 
factor. The play of one with a sanguine tempera- 
ment comes to an end ; but where sourness of 
temper is habitual, there danger threatens, if, as 
commonly happens, sport turns to earnest. Self-asser- 
tion plays a part also, manifesting itself in various 
ways. It assumes one form in him who has confi- 
dence in his strength, physical or mental, and another 
form in those who know their weakness — with or 
without the mental reservation as to the future em- 
ployment of artifice or cunning, and so also with 
more or less acknowledgment of the superior power 



GENERAL DIFFERENTIATION 295 

or authority. Passionate playing, on the whole, implies 
little seriousness; but may well indicate sensitiveness 
and a propensity to freedom from restraint. Pru- 
dence in sport is a sign of ability to take the oppo- 
nent's point of view, and to foresee his plans. Love 
of play is far more welcome to the teacher than 
indolence, or languid curiosity, or gloomy seriousness; 
it is one of the minor faults, if now and then work is 
forgotten over a game and time wasted; the situation 
is more grave, sometimes very grave indeed, where 
extravagance, or greed of gain, or secretiveness, or 
bad company is involved. In such cases decided 
interference on the part of the teacher is necessary. 

296. Since courage and rationality grow with 
increasing years, the faults of mere weakness leave 
room for hope of improvement, although there is 
need of an invigorating mode of life, invigorating 
physically and mentally, and of counsel and reproof 
in particular instances. Under continued watchful 
care weak natures improve much more than at first 
thought would seem to be likely. 

297. Unsteadiness, continual restlessness, where 
they accompany good health without being the result 
of external stimulation, are doubtful indications. Here 
it will be well to look to the sequence of thoughts. 
Where, in spite of variableness in general, thoughts 
are sound and well connected, this restlessness is not 
a serious matter. The case is worse when the oppo- 



296 THE FAULTS OF PUPILS 

site is true, especially when the vascular system 
appears very irritable, and dreamlike reveries occur. 
Here the danger of insanity is seen lurking in the 
distance. 

The appropriate treatment for such pupils consists 
in holding them strictly to definite tasks, especially to 
those occupations that compel a close observation of 
the external world, and in exacting the performance 
of the work assigned, without failing to encourage 
whatever is undertaken from choice. 

298. Sensual impulses and violence of temper are 
apt to go from bad to worse as pupils grow older. 
Against these, careful supervision, earnest censure, 
and the whole rigor of moral principles must be 
brought to bear. Momentary ebullitions of passion, 
however, unless persistently obstinate attempts are 
made to justify them, need to be handled gently, that 
is, as evils calling for precaution and vigilance. 

299. The faults hitherto noted lie for the most 
part on the surface. Others have to be studied as 
occasion offers in instruction. 

There are minds so dull that even the attempt 
merely to secure connection with definite portions of 
such thoughts as they have does not succeed. Easy 
questions intended to raise their ideas into conscious- 
ness only increase the resistance to be overcome. 
They are seized with embarrassment from which they 
seek to escape, sometimes by a simple, "I don't know," 



GENERAL DIFFERENTIATION 297 

sometimes by the first wrong answer that comes to 
hand. Mental activity has to be enforced, yet remains 
feeble at best, and it is only in after years, under 
pressure cf necessity, that they acquire some facility 
for a limited sphere. Others, whom one would be in- 
clined to call contracted rather than generally limited, 
because by them reproduction is performed success- 
fully but within a narrow compass, exhibit a lively 
endeavor to learn, but they learn mechanically, and 
what cannot be learned in that way they apprehend 
incorrectly. These undertake, nevertheless, to form 
and express judgments, but their judgments turn out 
to be erroneous ; hence they become first discouraged 
and then obstinate. Again, there are those whose 
ideas cannot be dislodged, and still others whose ideas 
cannot be brought to a halt. These two classes call 
for a more detailed consideration. 

300. Among the various masses of ideas (29) some 
necessarily acquire permanent predominance, others 
come and go. But if this relation reaches full devel- 
opment and becomes fixed too early, the controlling 
ideas no longer admit of being arrested to the extent 
necessary for the reception of the new material 
offered by instruction. This fact explains the experi- 
ence that clever boys, notwithstanding the best inten- 
tions to receive instruction, yet frequently appear very 
unreceptive, and that a certain rigidity of mind, which 
in later manhood would not occasion surprise, seems 



298 THE FAULTS OF PUPILS 

to have strayed, as it were, into boyhood. No one 
should allow himself to be betrayed into encourag- 
ing such narrowness by commendatory terms such as 
pertain to strength and energy ; just as little, how- 
ever, should clumsy teaching and its sequel, listless 
learning, be left out of account, as having no bearing 
on this state of affairs. 

For, rather may it be assumed that the fault men- 
tioned might have been largely forestalled by very early 
instruction of all kinds, provided such instruction had 
been combined with a variety of attractive rather than 
of too difficult tasks. Where, on the other hand, mental 
nervousness has once taken root, it cannot be eradi- 
cated by all the art and painstaking effort of a multi- 
tude of teachers. When the questions of a child, six 
years old let us say, give rise to the apprehension 
that they proceed from a too contracted mental hori- 
zon, there should be no delay about resorting to mani- 
fold forms of stimulation, especially in the way of 
widening the pupil's experience to the greatest prac- 
ticable extent. 

301. On the other hand, it is not rare to find boys, 
and even young men, in whose minds no one thought- 
mass attains to any very prominent activity. Such 
boys are always open to every impression and ready 
for any change of thought. They are wont to chat 
pleasantly, and to form hasty attachments. Here be- 
long those who learn easily and forget as quickly. 



GENERAL DIFFERENTIATION 299 

This defect, too, when once confirmed, resists all 
skill and good intentions ; strength of purpose, from 
the very nature of the case, is out of the question. 
The situation varies in gravity, however, according to 
the influences of the earliest environment. If these 
proved distracting, the fault mentioned assumes alarm- 
ing proportions even in minds otherwise well endowed. 
But where some form or other of necessary respect 
has been steadily at work, the youth will raise himself 
to a higher plane than the boy gave promise of doing. 
Least of all, however, can the teacher allow himself 
to be betrayed into hoping for a future develop- 
ment of talent by superficial alertness, combined, it 
may be, with droll fancies, bold pranks, and the like. 
Talent reveals itself through persistent endeavor, sus- 
tained even under circumstances little favorable to it, 
and not until such endeavor clearly manifests itself is 
the thought of giving it support to be entertained. 

The two faults under discussion may indeed come to 
light only in the course of time; nevertheless, they are 
inherent faults, and can be mitigated, to be sure, but 
not completely cured. 

302. Far easier to deal with are the erratic move- 
ments of energetic characters capable of ardent enthusi- 
asm. The mere thoroughness and many-sidedness of 
good instruction, which emphasizes and aims to effect 
rational connection and balance of mind, obviously 
supply the corrective. 



300 THE FAULTS OF PUPILS 

303. Originally it would have been easier to have 
prevented those faults which are due to the misman- 
agement or to the omission of early government, in- 
struction, or training. But with time, the difficulties 
of a cure grow in a very rapid ratio. In general, it is 
well to note that the teacher has every reason to con- 
gratulate himself, if, after early neglect, there appear 
under improved treatment some belated traces of 
those questions which belong to the sixth or seventh 
year of childhood (213). 



CHAPTER II 

The Sources of Moral Weakness 

304. Under this head five main points come up for 
consideration : — 

(1) Tendencies of the child's will impulses. 

(2) Ethical judgments and their absence. 

(3) Formation of maxims. 

(4) Organization of maxims. 

(5) Application of organized maxims. 

305. (1) Where training has not provided for oc- 
cupation and for the distribution of time, we must 
always ex ;ct to encounter an activity which has no 
aim, and which forgets its own purposes. From such 
a state of affairs arise a craving for liberty averse to all 
control, and, where several pupils are grouped together, 
contention, either for the possession of something or 
for the sake of showing off. Each wants to be first ; 
recognition of the just equality of all is deliberately 
refused. Mutual ill-will intrenches itself and stealthily 
waits for an opportunity to break forth. Here is the 
fountain head of many passions ; even those which 
spring from excessive sensuousness must be classed 
under this first head, in so far as they are promoted 

301 



302 THE FAULTS OF PUPILS 

by lack of regulated activity. The havoc caused by 
passions is a pervading element in the discussion of 
all of the remaining topics. 

306. (2) It is true that education usually counteracts 
the tendency to indolence and to unruliness, not only 
by the use of the spur and the bridle, but also through 
guidance in the direction of the proprieties ; giving rise 
to the thought "what will others say," it shows exist- 
ing conditions as mirrored in the minds of others. But 
when these others are compelled to remain silent, or 
when the pupil is sure of their partiality, or is exposed 
to their errors of judgment, the effect is to vitiate rather 
than to arouse the ethical judgment. 

Nevertheless, calling attention to the judgment of 
others, and not merely of particular individuals, is 
very much better than waiting for the spontaneous 
awakening of ethical judgment. In most cases the 
waiting would be in vain. Matters of ethical import 
are either too close to the ordinary human being, and 
so, of course, to the boy left entirely to himself, or they 
are too remote, i.e., either they have not as yet passed 
outside the pale of affection or aversion, or else they 
are already fading from the field of vision. In neither 
case can an ethical judgment be formed with success. 
At any rate, it will vanish before it can produce an effect. 

In order to reach those ethical judgments on which 
morality rests, the child must see will images, see them 
without the stirring of his own will impulse. 



THE SOURCES OF MORAL WEAKNESS 303 

These will images, moreover, must embrace relations, 
the single members of which are themselves wills, and 
the beholder is to keep such members equally in sight, 
until the estimate of value rises spontaneously within 
him. But such contemplation implies a keenness and 
calmness of apprehension not to be looked for in 
unruly children. Hence it may be inferred how neces- 
sary training is — serious, not to say severe, training. 
Unruliness must have been tamed and regular atten- 
tion secured. The' preliminary condition fulfilled, it is 
further essential that there shall be no lack of suffi- 
ciently distinct presentations of the foregoing will 
images. And even then the ethical judgment often 
matures so tardily that it has to be pronounced in the 
name of other persons — persons higher in authority. 

307. In this connection the instances of one-sided- 
ness of ethical judgment must not be overlooked, such 
as occur when one of the practical ideas stands out 
more prominently than another, or when that which is 
outwardly proper rises above them all. 

308. (3) All desires persistently operative and pro- 
ductive of fluctuating states of emotional excitement, 
therefore rightly called passions, lead to experiential 
knowledge of the beneficial and the injurious. The 
beneficial suggests frequent repetition in the future, 
the injurious continued avoidance. Accordingly rules 
of life take shape, and the resolution always to observe 
them is made. In other words, maxims result. 



304 THE FAULTS OF PUPILS 

From simple resolution to actual observance is still, 
to be sure, a far cry. But the claim for the universal 
validity of the rule, so that the individual may regard it 
as applicable to others as well as to himself, enters 
the mind far more directly by way of desires which 
point forward to similar cases in the future, than it 
does under the guidance of ethical judgments whose 
universal element is abstracted from given single in- 
stances with difficulty. In fact, this difficulty is often 
so great that the ethical judgment itself may be missed 
in the search for the universal. 

309. Now, the promptness and loyalty of obedience 
to the sum total of duties, once recognized as such and 
fixed through the maxims adopted, are passed upon by 
the moral judgment. Correct moral judgment, there- 
fore, presupposes true insight into the value of will, 
which insight again can be obtained only through the 
ethical estimate as a whole. But in view of the cir- 
cumstances pointed out a moment ago, we must ex- 
pect to come upon maxims that are false or at least 
inaccurate. Under the latter head fall points of honor, 
social obligations, fear of ridicule. 

310. (4) Maxims ought to form a unit, but in youth 
they are not fully determined even singly, much less 
are they closely united into a definite whole. The 
proviso of exceptions still clings to them, so also that 
of future tests through experience. 

The maxims arising out of the desires and pleas- 



THE SOURCES OF MORAL WEAKNESS 30$ 

ures can never be brought into perfect union with 
those springing from ethical judgments. Accordingly 
the wrong subordination takes place, or, at all events, 
a contamination of the latter by the former. 

311. (5) In the application of maxims more or less 
unified, the volition of the moment is apt to prove 
stronger than the previous resolves. Hence, man 
becomes only too prone to condone and fall in with 
discriminations between theory and practice. The 
consequence is a certain moral empiricism, which, if 
nothing else will do to justify its disregard of moral 
law, falls back upon pious feelings. Plans of action 
are formed without regard to maxims, but with the 
apparent compensation of another kind of morally 
regular life. 

Such contempt of moral judgment gains ground 
and spreads ruin all the more, the farther the ethical 
judgments on which morality must rest fall short of the 
clearness that ought to mark them, and the cruder the 
pupil's knowledge is of the antithesis between them 
and maxims of utility or pleasure. 

312. The natural aid to the formation and union of 
maxims is the system of practical philosophy itself. 
But the teaching of it involves difficulties. One of 
them is that such marked differences occur among 
young men in the relation of systematic exposition to 
the grade of culture which they have attained. For 
observations of this nature, religious instruction prior 



306 THE FAULTS OF PUPILS 

to confirmation provides an early opportunity. How 
such instruction is to be given, is, of course, by no 
means immaterial, but, after all, the moral sentiments, 
which it gathers together and strengthens, must, in 
substance, already exist. 

Again, if the end sought were more strictly scien- 
tific form for the moral sentiments, there would have 
to be ground for presuming that the student is able 
to appreciate that form and has acquired skill in the 
use of logical methods. The study of logic, together 
with appropriate exercises, would obviously be a nec- 
essary preliminary step. Prerequisites like these need 
to be borne in mind, especially in the case of lower 
schools and all other institutions that do not, as a rule, 
lead to the university. 

313. Erroneous systems of ethics, moreover, might 
occasion the adoption of very absurd measures, con- 
cerning which, on account of the importance of the 
subject, at least something has to be said. Every- 
thing would be turned upside down, if, instead of 
bringing together and uniting maxims under the con- 
cept virtue, the attempt were made to deduce from 
some one formula of the categorical imperative a 
multiplicity of maxims and from these, rather than 
from the original ethical judgments, the estimates of 
will values, the final undertaking being, perhaps, to 
divert the will itself by such operations. 

On the contrary, the will must early have been 



THE SOURCES OF MORAL WEAKNESS 307 

given such direction by government and training, 
that its lines of tendency will of themselves coincide 
as nearly as possible with the paths disclosed later, 
when the pupil is being shown the way through ethical 
judgments. Those beginnings of evil noted above (305) 
must not be permitted to appear at all, for their con- 
sequences usually prove ineradicable. But even so, it 
is not certain that a way can be hewn through the 
errors of others to truer judgments. When, however, 
both ends have been gained, experience and history 
and literature must next be called in, in order to show 
clearly the confusion into which the maxims based 
upon pleasure and passion plunge human beings. 
Not until now has the time come for more or less 
systematic lectures, or for the study of suitable clas- 
sical writers. Lastly, there will still be need of fre- 
quent appeals to moral obedience, and it will be found 
necessary to reinforce these appeals by reflections of 
a religious character. 



CHAPTER III 
The Effects of Training 

314. A. Training prevents passions in that it : — 

(1) satisfies needs, 

(2) avoids opportunities for violent desires, 

(3) provides employment, 

(4) accustoms to order, 

(5) demands reflection and responsibility. 

B. Training influences the emotions in that it : — 

(1) checks violent outbreaks, 

(2) creates other emotions, 

(3) and supplements self-control. 

C. Training impresses the courtesies of life 

(counteracts bad manners), consequently : — 

(1) the deportment of individuals is made 
approximately uniform ; 

(2) the number of possible points of social con- 
tact becomes much greater than where strife 
and contention rule ; 

(3) while the development of one or the other 
individual is checked, the more important 
energies are not stifled, provided excess of 
severity be avoided. 

308 



THE EFFECTS OF TRAINING 309 

D. Training makes cautions, for : — 

(1) It restricts foolhardiness, 

(2) It warns against dangers, 

(3) It punishes in order to make wiser, 

(4) It observes and accustoms the human being 
to the thought of being observed. 

315. Looked at as a whole, these obvious and famil- 
iar effects of training show at once that, generally- 
speaking, its power to lessen evil is very great, and 
that it is capable of effectively acting upon the inter- 
relations of various masses of ideas. But they suggest 
also the presence of danger. Training, by driving 
evil from the surface, may give rise to clandestine 
deeds. 

316. When this happens, the relations between 
teacher and pupils grow increasingly abnormal, since 
secret practices become general and concerted, and the 
pupils assume a studied behavior in the presence of 
the teacher. 

The consequences are well known : — Inexorable 
severity in dealing with concealed offences when dis- 
covered ; great leniency in the case of open transgres- 
sions ; recourse to the machinery of supervision, often 
even to secret watching, in order that the system of 
concealment may not get the better of education. 

317. It lowers the dignity of the teacher to take part 
habitually in a competition between spy and concealers. 
He must not demand to know everything, although he 



310 THE FAULTS OF PUPILS 

ought not to allow his confidence to be victimized by 
clumsy or long-continued deception. 

Such difficulties, however, only make it more in- 
tensely necessary that the foundation of education be 
laid during the earliest years, when supervision is still 
easy, and the heart is reached by formative influences 
with greater certainty than ever afterward, and that, 
if possible, families should not for any length of time 
lose sight of their own members. 

Ethical and moral judgments can be simulated; the 
finest maxims and principles may be learned by rote ; 
piety may be put on as a cloak. Unmask the hypo- 
crite, however, and turn him out, and, forthwith, he 
plays his game over again elsewhere. Nothing remains 
but recourse to severity which deters, and constant 
occupation under close supervision in another quarter, 
in order that he may get away from the hiding places 
of his misdeeds. Sometimes banishment is capable of 
bringing about improvement. 

318. The will is most directly tractable in social rela- 
tions, where it appears as common will. In infancy, 
the child, wholly devoted to his mother, is manageable 
through her ; at a later period training is surest of suc- 
cess when it promotes attachments among the young 
and carefully fosters the seeds of goodness. The 
social ideas, purified by teaching, must gradually be 
added. 

319. But as far back as boyhood, factions spring up 



THE EFFECTS OF TRAINING 3 1 1 

and exclusive sets are formed, facts which the teacher 
cannot permit to elude his vigilance. 

When a kind of authority is granted to some older 
and tried pupils over those younger and less mature 
in judgment, the former become responsible; but the 
latter are not on that account relieved of all reflection 
on their own part, nor are they obliged to submit to 
every, though plainly unreasonable, demand of the 
former. 



CHAPTER IV 
Special Faults 

320. First of all it is necessary to distinguish be- 
tween those faults which the pupil commits and those 
which he has. Not all faults one commits are direct 
manifestations of those he possesses ; but those which 
are committed repeatedly may grow permanent. This 
truth must be made clear, and must be impressed upon 
the mind of the pupil to the full extent of his powers 
of comprehension. 

321. In the case of false steps caused from without by 
unnoticed pitfalls, or made in spite of a firm resolve to 
the contrary, the pupil is himself usually frightened by 
what he has done. If so, all depends on the gravity of 
his offence as compared with the degree of his horror. 

There is a host of minor faults, blunders, and even 
acts resulting in damage, which tax the patience of 
the teacher severely; but it would imply a mistaken 
conception of the difficulty of moral education, if he 
should repel the frankness of his pupils by harsh treat- 
ment of such offence. Frankness is too essential a 
factor to be sacrificed; once gone it will hardly ever 
wholly return. 

31a 



SPECIAL FAULTS 313 

322. But the first lie uttered with evil intent, the first 
act of theft, and similar actions positively detrimental 
to morality or health, have to be dealt with severely, 
and always in such a way that the pupil who thought 
he was permitting himself a slight fault, is made to 
experience most thoroughly both fear and censure. 

323. Serious treatment of a first offence is demanded 
also where pupils try to see how far they may safely 
disregard authority and command. It is important, 
however, not to overestimate the intention of these 
attempts ; important also to exhibit strength, but not 
anger. Yet there are cases where the teacher must 
seem to act with some warmth, because the neces- 
sary treatment, if combined with coldness, would only 
intensify bitterness and cause pain an inordinate length 
of time. But very likely as much feeling as is expe- 
dient will show itself upon simply laying aside the 
assumed coldness. 

324. On the restoration of perfect order after a 
period during which government and training were 
lacking, a large number of faults will disappear of 
themselves, and accordingly do not require to be com- 
bated one by one. Respect for order, and incentives 
sufficiently strong to regular activity, are the main 
things. 

325. Faults which the pupil seems to possess are 
often only the borrowed maxims of the society which he 
hopes to enter. Here it becomes the business of edu- 



314 THE FAULTS OF PUPILS 

cation to set him right, if possible, and to elevate his 
view of human relations, in order that he may disdain 
the false appearances he before held in esteem. 

326. Faults which an older pupil actually possesses 
rarely occur singly. Moreover, they are seldom fully 
disclosed ; their appearance is determined by a pru- 
dent regard for circumstances. During the period of 
education such faults can, indeed, be largely prevented 
from growing worse, but the radical improvement of 
those who are secretive from prudence is rarely to be 
thought of before they have become more prudent 
still, too proud for concealment, and more susceptible 
to the true estimate of moral values. 

Where older boys and young men are found to 
possess unused talents, and where instruction can be 
so arranged as to develop them, there is some pros- 
pect of supplying a counterbalance to those habits 
which have been contracted. But, in general, efforts 
looking toward a lasting reform are successful only 
when made at an early age. At all events, where 
there is much to amend, the feeling of dependence 
on strict training must be kept alive for a long time. 

327. More success is likely to attend the endeavor 
to correct those faults which are not tolerated within 
the social class of which the pupil regards himself 
a member. Two factors determine the proper mode 
of procedure : the importance of making the pupil 
acquainted with the worthiest side of his social group, 



SPECIAL FAULTS 315 

and, on the other hand, the unavoidable necessity 
of causing him to see its less noble features in 
case he discovers in it free scope for his inherent 
faults. 

328. Here the pupil's capacity for education, as well 
as the limits of that capacity, are brought home to the 
teacher. As boys approach manhood, they let birth 
and external circumstances designate for them that 
class of society to which they will belong. The class 
denned, they seek to acquire its form of life, and to 
get into its main current. On the way thither they 
accept and take along so much of higher motives, of 
knowledge and insight, as, on the one hand, instruction 
offers and training favors, and as, on the other hand, 
the individuality of each one, which the earliest im- 
pressions have further determined, is ready to assimi- 
late. Those are rare exceptions who, through the 
development of an absorbing interest of some kind, 
in religion, or science, or art, have become less sus- 
ceptible to the attractive force of their social class. 
Their course has been marked out by the instruction 
which induced the absorption ; henceforth they are 
self-actively engaged in the pursuit of whatever accords 
with the end in view, and accept only a small part of 
what is presented to them. 

329. Specific forms of a pupil's attitude toward soci- 
ety, especially the relative prominence in his mind 
of state or family relations, will have to receive due 



3l6 THE FAULTS OF PUPILS 

consideration in marshalling motives to counteract 
particular faults. Indeed, the same is true of the 
appeal to those motives through which it is sought 
to establish a preponderance of worthier endeavor 
over moral imperfection in general. 



SECTION III 

REMARKS ON THE ORGANIZATION OF 
EDUCATION 

CHAPTER I 

Home Education 

330. On discovering that his own efforts encounter 
impediments, the individual teacher might easily come 
to think that society could do everything, if it only 
would, and if it possessed the necessary insight. Fur- 
ther reflection, however, reveals the existence of diffi- 
culties peculiar both to state and family. 

331. The state needs soldiers, farmers, mechanics, 
officials, etc., and. is concerned with their efficiency. 
Its attitude toward a large number of persons, whose 
existence as individuals has significance only in a 
narrow sphere, is, in general, far more that of super- 
vision designed to prevent the harm they might do, 
than one of direct helpfulness. He who is able to 
render competent service receives preferment; the 
weaker has to give way to the stronger ; the shortcom- 
ings of one are made good by another. 

3*7 



3l8 ORGANIZATION OF EDUCATION 

332. The state applies its tests to what can be tested, 
to the outward side of conduct and of knowledge. It 
does not penetrate to the inner life. Teachers in pub- 
lic schools cannot penetrate much farther ; they, too, are 
more concerned with the sum total of knowledge im- 
parted by them, than with the individual and the way 
in which he relates his knowledge to himself. 

333. To the family, however, no stranger can make 
up for what one of its members lacks ; to the family 
the inner condition becomes so manifest, and is often 
felt so keenly, that the merely external does not satisfy. 
It is obvious, therefore, that moral education will always 
remain essentially a home task, and that the institutions 
of the state are to be resorted to for educative purposes 
only with a view to supplementing the home. 

But on closer inspection it is found that family life is 
very often too busy, too full of care, or too noisy, for 
that rigor which is undeniably required both for instruc- 
tion and for morality. Luxury and want alike harbor 
dangers for youth. Consequently families lean on the 
state for support more than they ought. 

334. Private institutions as such do not possess 
the same motive power as either state or family, and 
are seldom able to make themselves independent of the 
comparisons to which they are exposed, because of 
the fact that they are expected in one case to take the 
place of the state schools, and in another that of the 
family. 



HOME EDUCATION 319 

Nevertheless, sturdy minds which do not require the 
emulation obtaining in schools can be advanced more 
rapidly, and instruction adapted more easily to individ- 
ual needs, than in public institutions. As for training, 
moreover, the evils that may spring from environment 
can be prevented more successfully than is possible in 
many families. 

If the institutions in question could choose from 
among many teachers and many pupils, they might, 
under otherwise favorable circumstances, be able to 
achieve great results. But the fact of a picked set of 
pupils alone shows how little the whole need of educa- 
tion would be met. Besides, even those that were 
chosen would bring with them their earliest impres- 
sions; they wouid incline toward the social conditions 
for which they believe themselves to be destined; the 
faults of individuality (294 et seq.) would cling to 
them, unless such faults were recognized before the 
selection, and were avoided by exclusion. 

335. As much as possible, then, education must 
return to the family. In many cases private tutors 
will be found to be indispensable. And of instructors 
excellently equipped as to scholarship, there will be the 
less lack, the better the work done by the gymnasia. 

It must be noted, also, that instead of being the most 
difficult, the most advanced instruction is the easiest of 
all, because imparted with the least departure from the 
way in which it was received. People are therefore 



320 ORGANIZATION OF EDUCATION 

mistaken when they assume that private tutors are 
capable of furnishing an equivalent only for the lowest 
classes in gymnasia. A far greater difficulty lies in the 
fact that even the most skilful and active tutor cannot 
give as many lessons as a school provides, and that 
accordingly more has to be left to the pupil's own 
efforts. To be sure, this is exactly the mode of instruc- 
tion which suits the bright student better than one that 
must accommodate itself to the many, and which on 
that account must progress but slowly. 

336. But home education presupposes that sound 
pedagogical views have been arrived at in the home, 
and that their place is not occupied by absurd whims 
or half knowledge. (Niemeyer's famous work, "The 
Principles of Education and of Instruction," is intelli- 
gible to every educated person, and has been widely 
known for many years.) 

337. The necessity of sound pedagogical knowledge 
in the home becomes all the more urgent where teach- 
ers, private or public, change frequently — whereby 
inequalities of instruction and treatment are introduced 
which need to be corrected. 



CHAPTER II 
Concerning Schools 

338. The school system and its relations to local 
authorities, on the one hand, and to the general gov- 
ernment, on the other, form a vast and difficult sub- 
ject involving not merely pedagogical principles, but 
also such aims as the maintenance of higher learning, 
the dissemination of useful information, and the prac- 
tice of indispensable arts. In university lectures a few- 
words on such topics suffice, since young men who ac- 
cept a school position assume, at the same time, obliga- 
tions which for a long time to come prescribe for them 
the path they must follow. 

339. They must, in the first place, consider the char- 
acter of the school in which they are to instruct. The 
school programme provides them with information con- 
cerning the scope of the curriculum, the established 
relations of the branches of instruction to one another, 
and the various stages in each subject. The teachers' 
conference affords them an insight into multiplex rela- 
tions to authorities, parents, and guardians, and to the 
pupils, also relations leading to cooperation, more or less 
perfect, on the part of the teachers. The whole of the 

Y 321 



322 ORGANIZATION OF EDUCATION 

educational effort directed upon younger, intermediate, 
and older pupils is presented in one view ; it is known 
also where the pupils come from, with what kind of 
preparation, and where as a rule they go upon leav- 
ing the school. 

340. It must obviously make a vast difference 
whether pupils look forward to the university, or 
whether the gymnasium is filled with boys who do 
not intend to pursue higher studies ; whether a burgher 
school sets a final examination to mark the stage of 
general culture to which the school is expected to 
advance the pupils, or whether the pupils enter and 
leave without well-defined reasons according to what 
seems best to their respective families; whether an 
elementary school is conducted merely as an institu- 
tion preparing for gymnasia or burgher schools, or 
whether its course provides for the suitable education, 
during his whole boyhood, of the future artisan, etc. 

The American school system possesses this great 
advantage over that of Germany, — it has an educa- 
tional ladder planted in every elementary school upon 
which any child from any social class may mount as 
high as his ambition incites, or his means and ability 
permit. It is the only suitable system in a democracy, 
where opportunity should be open to all. Even to 
obtain greater perfection than the German school 
system has ever attained, a democratic nation cannot 
afford to impair its present organization, in so far 



CONCERNING SCHOOLS 323 

as it makes advancement possible to every aspiring 
soul. 

341. In each case the official activity entered upon 
must adjust itself properly to the whole, the outlines of 
which are given. These determine the proportion and 
the subdivision of the store of learning to be kept ready 
for use, the degree of confidence to be shown to pupils 
as to knowledge already acquired, and the manner in 
which they are to be addressed. It is important that 
the teacher should appear before his class adequately 
prepared and with confident self-possession, that he 
should look about attentively at every one and make 
each pupil feel at once that it would not be easy for 
him to undertake anything without being noticed. 

342. The questions to be put to the pupils need to 
be formulated clearly and concisely, and they must fol- 
low each other in easy sequence. The answers must be 
corrected and, when necessary, repeated, in order that 
all may hear them. No pause should be unduly pro- 
longed ; no explanation to the weaker pupil should be 
allowed to become oppressively tedious to the more 
advanced. Those who are at work at the moment 
must be assisted, but ought not to be disturbed by 
much interrupting talk. The current of thought is to 
be invited and accelerated in all, but not hurried, etc. 

Such requirements instruction will meet with greater 
or less difficulty, according as classes are small or large 
and the inequality of pupils great or slight. 



324 ORGANIZATION OF EDUCATION 

343. In the assigning of work the capacity of each 
pupil must be taken into account as much as possible, 
in order that no one may surrender to ill-humor and 
discouragement on account of excessive demands, nor 
any one permit himself carelessly to abuse a task too 
easy for him. 

344. Inequalities of division resulting from rearrange- 
ments of classes, or other changes, must be pointed 
out to the authorities as clearly as possible, for the 
purpose of urging a more even distribution and a re- 
duction of excessive numbers. 

345. In the course of the gradual extension of such 
efforts many a defect will come to light. It may be 
found, for instance, that the school is not a whole, 
because of the lack of a competent teacher for an 
important subject, or because of marked inequalities of 
knowledge and culture due to the preparatory schools, 
or because the school (such as those in small towns) 
follows the curriculum of a gymnasium while its real 
aim is supposed to be that of a burgher school, etc. 

346. Reports of such single defects will as a rule 
lead only to correspondingly partial improvements in 
the system and to relief from the most onerous per- 
plexities, since it is seldom found possible to organize 
the system of a whole province at once in such a way 
as to make one harmonious whole. 

347. But in case comprehensive reforms of the 
school system were undertaken, it would be necessary 



CONCERNING SCHOOLS 325 

not merely to tolerate great multiformity, but even to 
create it purposely. For division of labor is in all 
human performance the right path to better things ; 
and the preceding discussion must have shown with 
sufficient clearness how much depends on a more dis- 
criminating segregation of pupils. 



INDEX 



A, B, C, of Perception, 253. 
Absorption and Reflection, 66. 
Action, clandestine, 315. 
Action and Rest, 156. 
Administrative System, 15. 
Adolescence, and obedience, 1 61 ; 

bibliography for, 231. 
./Esthetics, 93. 
Affection, 24. 
Algebra, history of, 255. 
Alertness of mind, superficial, 301. 
American History vs. that of Greece 

and Rome, 241. 
Analytic instruction, definition, 106 ; 

first stages of, 1 1 1 ; 

other forms of, 117 ; 

with children, 214. 
Ancient Languages, their use as em- 
ployment, 98 ; 

labor of mastering, 103. 
Apperceiving attention, capacity for, 

129. 
Application, 67 ; 

a stage of method, 70. 
Approbation, 151. 

Arguing with children, evils of, 164. 
Arithmetic, with boys, 223-224. 
Arranging of objects, 215. 
Arrested development, 171. 
Art of narration, 76. 
Arts, 251. 

Assistance, gradual withdrawal, 204. 
Association, 67 ; 

promoted by conversation, 69. 
Athletics, over- valuation of, 169. 



Attention, divided, 63 ; 

forced and spontaneous, 73 ; 

primitive and apperceiving, 74. 
Authority, 53-163 ; 

delegated, 319. 
Aversion, 24. 

Bad conduct of adults, 187. 

Baldwin, quoted, 168, 195. 

Barrenness of text-book method, 243. 

Barriers to education, 5. 

Bennett and Bristol, "The teaching 
of Latin and Greek," 279. 

Bible stories, 234. 

Biblical stories vs. Mythology, 237. 

Boundary between boyhood and ado- 
lescence, 217. 

Boyhood, boundary between, and 
adolescence, 217. 

Brown, George P., 271. 

Capacity for education in children, 33. 

Caprice of will, 1, 3. 

Categorical imperative, not the true 

source of maxims, 313. 
Censure, 151. 
Character, development of, 64 ; 

objective side of, 143 ; 

subjective side of, 143 ; 

strength of, 147. 
Cheerfulness, social, 211. 
Children, government of, 45-55. 
Childhood, 203-216. 
Child study, 33, 34. 
•Choice, content of, 167; 

of subject-matter, 95. 



327 



328 



INDEX 



Choosing, 167. 
Chronology in history, 240. 
Clandestine action, 315. 
Classical vs. scientific education, 85. 
Classification of interests, 83; 

how to provide for, 135. 
Clearness, 67. 
Combats between teacher and pupils, 

163. 
Commands, sweeping, 48. 
Committing to memory, 81. 
Communion, 232. 
Comparative study, 89. 
Complication of ideas, 30. 
Composition, true nature of, 123; 

in Latin and Greek, 285. 
Concealed offences, severity for, 316. 
Concert work, 69. 
Conduct, becoming, 137. 
Conferences, teachers', 339. 
Confirmation, 232. 
Conjunctions, children's use of, 31. 
Consequences, discipline of, 157. 
Consistency of action, 1 74. 
Contempt of moral judgment, 312. 
Contention, why it pleases children, 

183. 
Continuity of education, 7. 
Contrasts in pupils, 28. 
Control, restlessness under, 305. 
Conversation, 67. 
Corporal punishment, 51. 
Correlation of studies, 65; 

limits of, 219. 
Courage, 296. 
Culture, Dogma of Formal, Hinsdale, 

279. 
Cynics, 83. 
Cyrenaics, 83. 

Dates, 247. 

Delegated authority, 319. 
Demonstrations, 256. 
Depression and elevation, 156. 



Desire and passion, 176; 

bodily, 177; 

gratification of, 155. 
Determining influence of training, 

167. 
Dewey, Dr. John, 38, 63, 73, 150; 

and McLellan, 253. 
Differences, individual and sex, 219. 
Discipline, social basis of, 55; 

of consequence, 157. 
Diffusion of thought, 35. 
Disorder an index of failure, 55. 
Disposition, cheerful, 137. 
Divided attention, 63. 
"Dogma of Formal Culture," Hins- 
dale, 279. 
Dorpfeld, 70. 
Drudgery vs. work, 63. 
Duel, 13. 
Dulness, 299. 

Ease of government, 54. 

Easy before the difficult, 127, 

Eckoff, Wm. J., 254. 

Educability of pupils, I. 

Education according to age, 195- 

231; 

first three years, 195-202; 

from four to eight, 203-216; 

boyhood, 217-226; 

youth, 227-231. 
Education as home task, 333. 
Educational bookkeeping, 50. 
Educative instruction, 59, 100; 

value in fixing curriculum, 100. 
Election, basis of, 65. 
Electives, 89. 

Elevation and depression, 156. 
Employment, the foundation of gov- 
ernment, 46 ; 

for children, 56. 
Endurance, 154. 

English schools, effect on character 
of boys, 183. 



INDEX 



329 



Environment, influence of, 5, 55 ; 

of pupils, 94. 
Equilibrium of ideas, 75. 
Equity, definition, 13. 
Erratic mental movements, 302. 
Estrangement and its removal, 66. 
Ethical Basis of Pedagogics, 8-19. 
Ethical judgment, 25. 
Ethical life, range of, 292. 
Ethics, the goal of education, 2. 
Examination vs. review, 117. 
Experience, limits of, no. 
Explication, 67. 
Expulsion, 52. 
Evil, exclusion of, 149. 

Faculties, 20, 21, 22, 23; 

names for, 27. 
Family, its interest in the individual, 
288; 

its lack of vigor, 333. 
Fatalism, 1, 3. 

Fatigue, produced by instruction, 70. 
Favoritism, 184. 

Faults of children and their treat- 
ment, 294-329 ; 

general differentiation, 294-303 ; 

sources of moral weakness, 304- 

313; 
effects of training upon, 314-319 ; 
special faults, 320-329 ; 
habitual, 326 ; 
minor, 321 ; 

committed vs. faults possessed, 
320. 
Faust, 83. 

First offences, treatment of, 323. 
Fiske, method of using text-books of 

history, 247. 
" Five windows of the Soul," 37. 
Fixation of ideas, premature, 218. 
Formal Culture, Dogma of, Hinsdale, 

279. 
Formal steps, 67. 



Frankness, lack of, 26 ; 

need of, 322, 
Freedom and restraint, 156. 
Friendliness, with children, 211. 

Games, the supervision of, 1 78 ; 

cooperative, 178. 
General notions, definition, 30. 
Generalizations, 92. 
Gentle measures, 43. 
Geography, 263-268 ; 

home geography, 263 ; 

an associating science, 264 ; 

narration in, 265 ; 

the old vs. the new, 266 ; 

reviews in, 267. 
Geographical aspects of history, 245. 
Geographical vs. historical studies, 

293- 
Geometry, advantages of association, 

102. 
Good will, definition, 1 1 ; 

in children, 206 ; 

two aspects of, 185. 
Golden rule, 148. 

Goldsmith on the moody teacher, 166. 
Government of children, 45-55. 
Grading, 344~345- 
Grammar, amount to be given, 130. 
Greek and Latin, 277-285 ; 

time for beginning, 277-278 ; 

manner of teaching, 279. 
Greek and Roman history, priority 
of, 246; 

vs. American history, 246. 
Greek, authors to be used, 283 ; 

relation of, to religious impres- 
sions, 233. 
Groups of ideas, 29. 
Gumplowicz, 5. 
Gymnastic exercises, excessive, 132. 

Harris, Dr. Wm. T., 37, 143. 
Harmony of insight and volition, 9. 



330 



INDEX 



Heavenly bodies, observation of, 259. 
Herbert Spencer, 85, 157. 
Herodotus, stories of, 243. 
Higher education, the comparative 

study of branches, 89. 
Higher vs. lower schools, 340. 
High school, six-year course in, 103. 
Hinsdale, "Dogma of Formal Cul- 
ture," 279. 
History, 239-251; 

prevailing error of young teach- 
ers of, 239 ; 
American vs. Greek and Roman, 

241; 
mediaeval, 249 ; 
modern, 250. 
Historical instruction, a branch of 

education, 37. 
Home education, 330-337. 
Home work, not a saving of labor, 123- 
Homogeneity of pupils, 112. 
Honor, standards of, 169 ; 

a feeling of, 223. 
Humdnoria vs. realia f 99. 

Ideas, groups of, 29; 

their source, 36; 

equilibrium of, 75; 

degree of strength, 102. 
" Iliad " and " Odyssey," 283. 
Imaginary and complex numbers, 

256. 
Imagination, 22. 
Incapacity, feeling of, in children, 

216. 
Inclinations vs. principles, 193. 
Individuality, modification of, 41 ; 

differences of, 54. 
Individual traits, permanency of, 295. 
Indolence of youth, 227. 
Inequalities, correction of, 60. 
Infancy, 195-202. 
Inherent faults, 294. 
Inner freedom, aspects of, 187. 



Instability of ideas, 301. 
Instruction, 56-135; 

relation to government and train- 
ing, 56-61; 
^r aim of, 62-65; 

conditions of many-sidedness in, 
66-70; 

conditions determining interest 
in, 71-82; 

as information giving, 35 ; 

and rudeness, 35; 

in relation to pupils' ideas and 
disposition, 36; 

branches of, 36; 

its good beginning, 105. 
Insertion vs. continuation, 129. 
Insight, definition, 8; 

harmony of with volition, 9. 
Intercourse, social, 78. 
Interest, conditions of, 71-82; 

main kinds of, 83-94; 

many-sidedness of, 62; 

direct and indirect, 63; 

vs. effort, 63; 

bearing of on virtue, 64; 

classification of, 83; 

not sole guide to selection of 
studies, 135; 

compared with skill, 289. 
Inventions, 251. 
Irritability, 297. 

James, quoted, 175. 
Judgment, 23; 

of moral quality of actions, 9; 

ethical, 25. 
Justice and equality with boys, 221. 

Kant, 3; 

his views on moral obedience, 173. 

Lange's " Apperception," 74. 
Language lessons vs. grammar, 271. 
Languages, difficulties of, 129. 



INDEX 



331 



Lamed, method of using text-books, 

247. 
Latin and Greek, 277-285 ; 

time for beginning, 103; 

composition in, 285. 
Latin, increase in study of, 278; 

reasons for teaching, 279; 

authors to be read, 282. 
Letter writing, 276. 
Listlessness, 158. 

Literary masterpieces, study of, 76. 
Logarithms, 254. 
Love, 53. 

Magnitudes in mathematics, 252. 
Main kinds of interest, 83-94; 

materials of, 95-104; 

process of, 105-130; 

plan of, 1 31-135. 
Manly games, effects of on boys, 183. 
Manual training, 259; 

effect of on discipline, 56. 
Many-sidedness, 66-70; 

of interest, 62. 
Materials of instruction, 95-104. 
Mathematics, 252-257; 

linked to nature, 39; 

correlation of, 39; 

aptitude for, 252. 
Mathematical teaching, order of, 255. 
Maxims, origin of, 310. 
McLellan and Dewey, 253. 
McMurray, 74. 
Measuring, 253. 
Mediaeval history, 249. 
Memorizing, 81, 108. 
Memory of will, 161. 
Mental faculties, names for, 27. 
Mental instability, 301. 
Mephistopheles, 83. 
Method, 67. 
Mob spirit, the, 168. 
Mobility of ideas, 35. 
Modern history, 250. 



Modern languages, arguments for 

their study, 98. 
Modern methods of using text-books 

in history, 247. 
Money, teaching the use of, 170. 
Moodiness in the teacher, 166. 
Moods and whims, 147. 
Moral eccentricity, 307. 
Moral freedom, possibility of, 173. 
Moral education in strict sense, 188. 
Moral judgment, contempt of, 312. 
Moral revelation of the world, 167. 
Morality, demand of upon youth, 231. 
Mother-tongue, the, 269. 
Motives of youth, 229. 
Musical instruments, study of, 1 79. 

Narration, art of, 76; 

historical, 239-243. 
Natorp, 143. 

Natural science, 258-262. 
Nature study, 258-262; 

apperceptive basis for, 258; 

and history, 258. 
Niemeyer, 112, 113. 

Obedience, 48; 

to authority, 173; 

promptness of, 309. 
Object lessons, how to teach, 114- 

116. 
Observation, of children, 33, 34; 

exercises, 215; 

which does not observe, III. 
Occupations, 47, 98; 

self-chosen, 134. 
"Odyssey," 283. 
Offences, concealed, 316. 
One-sidedness, 86. 
Order, restoration of, 324. 
Organization of pupil's ideas, 31, 32; 

of education, 330-347. 
Outlines of general pedagogics, 45- 
231. 



332 



INDEX 



Outside occupations, 134. 
Overburdening of pupils, 97, 226. 

Pampering, 45. 
Passions, 180, 181; 

prevention of by training, 314; 

what they lead to, 308. 
Paulsen, 3, 73. 

"Pedagogical Seminary," 178. 
Pedagogics, ethical basis of, 8-19; 

psychological basis of, 20-44; 

outlines of general, 45-231. 
Perez, 195. 
Perfection, idea of, definition, 10; 

importance of, 17; 

false idea of, 18; 

in children, 207-210. 
Perfice te, 17. 
Pestalozzi, 112, 1 14. 
Physical activity, need of, 46. 
Physical weakness, consideration for, 

159. 

Physics, elementary, 261. 

Plan of instruction, 131-135. 

Play, love of, 295. 

Playground, need for, 132. 

Plasticity, limited, 4. 

Pleasure and pain, sources of, 168. 

Praise and censure, 189-190. 

Premature fixation of ideas, 218. 

Preparation, 70. 

Presentation, 70, 119. 

Presentative instruction, its present 
function, 109. 

Presentative method, meaning of, 106. 

Preyer, 195. 

Primacy of ideas, 73, 143; 
of will, 73, 143. 

Principles vs. inclinations, 193. 

Private vs. public schools, 334. 

Process of instruction, 105-130. 

Proficiency in knowledge a late ac- 
quirement, 127. 

Prudence, 145. 



Psychological basis of pedagogics, 

8-19. 
Psychology as instrument, 2. 
" Psychology of Number," 253. 
Public opinion, respect for, 306. 
Public vs. private schools, 334. 
Punishment, 51-53. 
Pupil's interest, how to measure and 

secure it, 101. 

Quality vs. quantity, in securing in- 
terest, 101. 
Questions, childish, 213; 

character of, 342. 
Quietude of mind, 1 76. 

Rationality, growth of, 296. 

Reading, 273-275. 

Realia, advantage of, 101. 

Recitations, number per week, 133. 

Records, of conduct, 50. 

Recreations, 132. 

Reflection and absorption, 66. 

Reform, school, 103. 

Regulative principles, establishment 

of, 173- 
Regulative training, 172. 
Religion, 232-238. 
Religious culture with boys, 222. 
Religious feeling, beginnings of, 236. 
Religious instruction, 94; 

in England, Germany, and the 
United States, 181. 
Religious training, need of, 19. 
Reminders, 192. 

Repetition, what it accomplishes, 118. 
Reproduction, 109. 
Rest and action, 156. 
Restlessness, 297 ; 

under control, 305. 
Restraint, 55 ; 

and freedom, 186. 
Revelation of the world, moral, 167. 
Reviews, conduct of, 117. 



INDEX 



333 



Rigidity of mind, 300. 
Rosenkranz, 66. 
" Rousing word," the, 175. 
Rudeness vs. instruction, 35. 
Russell, " German Higher Schools," 
279. 

Savings banks, 170. 

" School and Society," Dr. John 

Dewey, 38. 
School hygiene, literature of, 132. 
Schoolrooms, need for spacious, 132. 
Schools, organization of, 338-347. 
School system, 338. 
Scientific instruction, a branch of 

education, 37. 
Scientific vs. classical education, 85. 
Seclusion vs. society, 168. 
Secondary education in United States, 

its brevity, 103. 
Self- activity, 71. 
Self-defence, 183. 
Self-determination, 26. 
Sensibility, kindness of, 152. 
Sensual impulses, 298. 
Sequence, common view, 96 ; 

of studies, 128. 
Series of ideas, 121. 
Severity for concealed offences, 316. 
Simulation of ethical judgments, 317. 
Sin, 338. 

Six-year high school course, 103. 
Skill vs. interest, 289. 
Sluggishness of pupils, 165. 
Smith, David Eugene, 255, 256. 
Social cheerfulness, 211. 
Social circle, relation of child to, 208. 
Social ends of training, 160. 
Social environment of pupils, 94. 
Social faults, correction for, 327. 
Social intercourse, 78. 
Social pressure in government, 161. 
Social relations the source of will, 

318. 



Social, the, in conduct, 62. 
Society vs. seclusion, 168. 
Source of ideas, 36. 
Special applications of pedagogics, 
232-293 ; 

religion, 232-238 ; 

history, 239-251 ; 

mathematics and natural science, 
252-262 ; 

geography, 263-268 ; 

the mother-tongue, 269-275. 
Speer, 253. 

Spencer, Herbert, 85, 157. 
Spinoza, 3. 

Spy, the teacher as, 317. 
Standards of honor, 169. 
State, its attitude toward the individ- 
ual, 331. 
Strife, 182. 

Structure of groups of ideas, 31. 
Studies, social function of, 62 ; 

as social instruments, 64 ; 

for boys, 225. 
Study of literary masterpieces, 76. 
Style of speaking, 108. 
Subjects to be taught, 100. 
Supervision, 48 ; 

strictness of, 49, 50. 
Sweetmeats, educational, 99. 
Syntax, Latin, 284. 
Synthetic instruction, definition, 106 ; 

nature and course of, 125-126. 
System, 67 ; 

promoted by connected discourse, 
69; 

of laws and rewards, 14 ; 

of civilization, 16. 

Tardiness, 161. 
Teacher as spy, 317. 
Teachers' conferences, 339. 
Temperaments, 295. 
Temper, violent, 298. 
Tests by the state, 332, 



334 



INDEX 



Text-book methods, barrenness of, 

243- 
Text-book vs. oral presentation of 

history, 239. 
Themes for composition, 124. 
The mob spirit, 168. 
The mother-tongue, 269-276. 
Thoughtlessness of pupils, 164. 
Time, amount to be given to instruc- 
tion, 132. 
Training, 136-194 ; 
definition, 136, 141 ; 
relation to government and in- 
struction, 136-140; 
aim of, 141-142 ; 
differentiation of character, 143- 

147; 
differentiation in morality, 148- 

15°; 
helps in, 151-159 ; 
general method, 160-194 5 
blended with government, 140 j 
function of, 151. 
Transfer of pupils, 52. 
Translation, difficulty of,' for German 
children, 103. 



Trigonometry, 254. 
Tutors, place of, 335. 

Unification, 65, 66. 

Use of things, how taught, 114. 

Vendettas, 13. 

Violin, value of use of, 179. 
Virility in the school, 183. 
Virtue, definition, 8, 62 ; 

unevenness of development, 8 ; 

its relation to interest, 64. 
Viva vox docet, 107. 
Volition, harmony with insight, 9 ; 

of the moment, 311. 

Wiget, 70. 

Will, memory of, 161. 

Women teachers and fighting pupils, 

183. 
Work vs. drudgery, 63. 
Written exercises in the mother- 
tongue, 276. 
Written work, tediousness of, 59 ; 

correction of, 123. 
Wundt, 74. 



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